


Grounded Lightning

by Cazmere



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Bad Parenting, Brainwashing, Crazy Azula (Avatar), Destiny, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Personal Growth, Redemption, Spirit World, Time Loop, azula has a long road ahead of her, for azula anyway, she low key deserves it though, stubborn azula
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 36,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25232917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cazmere/pseuds/Cazmere
Summary: It should have been one of the best days of Azula's life. She'd succeeded where dear Zuzu had failed again and again, single handedly staged a coup against Ba Sing Se, and struck the Avatar down with lightning. That was before she felt the tell-tale static that came with more lightning, this time not her own. Now she's stuck in a stupid time loop for Agni knows why.
Comments: 72
Kudos: 273





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a reposting from Space Battles. I am the original author, as is noted on threadmark 1.12.

Azula felt victory thrum through her body, almost stronger than the vibrations of lightning through her chi. Her fingers were still extended, lightly smoking from the deadly strike that had so easily downed the Avatar.

She felt a smirk curl over her lips even as that water tribe peasant started crying, twirling water around herself in a futile attempt to save the boy. Azula had struck true, and her lightning left no survivors.

She easily started to rise from her kata, smirk never leaving her lips as her golden eyes tracked the descent of the Avatar's limp body, noting Zuko and the Dai Li getting knocked over by a wave.

She had just straightened up, preparing to finish off the water tribe peasant next. Her fingers once against rose, and the caress of static caused her hair to rise. In a split second, Azula had time to stare in baffled confusion at her own fingers, free from lightning.

Then her body seized, blindingly sharp heat spiraling through her before it seemed to focus on her heart. The world swayed, tilting off kilter, and she could vaguely sense herself falling as her hands clutched over her heart. She couldn't be sure, but she didn't think it was beating.

The last thing she was able to discern before her vision completely blacked over was her idiotic uncle pulling her into his arms, tears streaming down his face. Though the world was a blurring, swimming mess, she could just make out his words, "Another child lost in this cursed city."

Azula's body went limp, the precious oxygen in her blood depleted. Her chakras emitted an awful burning sensation as they were yanked. This must be death.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.


	2. Chapter 2

Azula spent a moment simply breathing, clutching at her heart. Years of breathing exercises steadied her breath quickly, and her gaze darted over the throne room, taking note of everything.

There were Dai Li soldiers standing at the doors, on guard as always. If they noted anything strange about her behavior, they didn't show it. Mai and Ty Lee on either side, however, eyed her in stealthy concern, keeping their own eyes trained towards the Dai Li.

Azula's mind was whirring, mulling over what had just occurred. Clearly, she wasn't dead, and if she had been struck by lightning, she wouldn't be sitting on the Ba Sing Se throne even if she had survived the strike. The scene around her was familiar, indicative of earlier the very same day. Her nails clicked thoughtfully against the arms of the throne, anger retreating as she came to a startling conclusion.

Clearly Agni himself had shown her a vision because he wanted her to succeed and survive to be the greatest Fire Lord the world had ever seen.

Fury blazed bright at the audacity of the failure of a general for actually murdering the future Fire Lord. The temperature of the air around her shot up, blue flames tickling her fingers.

She rose to her feet, noting that Mai and Ty Lee rose with her. She glanced towards them. "Come along, I've suddenly gotten an idea."

She led the girls to the room she'd requisitioned for herself, closing the door after them. She looked at the other two girls, noting their deferential curiosity. Her most loyal supporters, never showing an ounce of defiance.

"Today," Azula declared, "I'm going to kill the Avatar."

Ty Lee laughed at once before silencing when Mai elbowed her. Suddenly both girls were eyeing her warily, and Ty Lee scrambled to defend her laughter. "You can do anything, Azula, but he's not even here. How are you going to do that?"

Azula smirked, not overly bothered since she knew the girl wasn't stupid enough to betray her. "Why, Ty Lee, that won't be a problem at all. After all, we've got his pet peasant."

She tapped her nails thoughtfully to her chin, tilting her head as she sent long, thoughtful looks at both girls. She noticed that they seemed unsettled by her full, unexplained attention which only made her more pleased. Fear was the most powerful force in existence, and she was no stranger to causing it.

"Mai," she finally said, causing the quiet girl to stand somehow straighter. "I have a mission for you. Later today, everything will fall into place to kill the Avatar, take out that water tribe peasant, and bring my dearest brother home with us. However, one thing stands in the way." Here, Azula looked at Mai even more intensely. "That failure of a general that I have the displeasure of calling uncle holds the power to single-handedly ruin it all. So I give you this task: stop that old man from interfering through whatever means necessary."

Mai looked slightly confused, likely at the near manic delight etching the princess' words. Ever loyal, she nevertheless replied, "Of course."

Azula hummed and turned away, thoughtfully recanting the rest of her plans. She glanced back over her shoulder, "And Mai? I do mean any means necessary. The world won't weep over one washed up whale."

Mai's face remained carefully blank, recognizing a glided order when she heard it. "Of course, Azula. Whatever you need."

"And what about me?" Ty Lee asked, bounding around the room with endless energy per usual. "What do you want me to do?"

Azula observed the acrobat, but saw no reason to change her role in the proceedings. "You can watch the pet bear. Don't let anyone take it."

Ty Lee looked somewhat disappointed, but she knew better than to argue with the fire princess.

And thus the plan was a go.

~

This time, Iroh wasn't there to strike her down.

Azula refused to die, especially when given advanced warning. Although it left her with a bitter taste, she focussed on maintaining her own safety after striking down the Avatar. It was pointless since it seemed Mai had been successful in . . . handling the so called Dragon of the West.

Unfortunately, the water tribe savage was a bit more resourceful than she'd expected because she still somehow managed to get away, the Avatar's body in her arms.

Azula managed to leave some fierce burns up the girl's back on her way out which would have to do. Regardless, the Avatar was dead and no amount of the peasant's tears would change that.

Mai stepped in moments later. Azula met her eyes with a raised eyebrow, and the girl gave a brief nod.

Azula laughed, delighted. Somehow she'd actually done it, putting one more piece of her plan into action.

Now, for the last plan . . .

"Come along now, Zuzu," she said, voice smug. "It's time to go home."

Zuko frowned, looking between Azula and Mai. Oh dear, he was going to make this difficult, wasn't he? He narrowed his good eye. "Where's Uncle? He'll need to know the Avatar is dead."

Azula's lips quirked up. "There will be time for that later. Mai helped eliminate the last thing between you and regaining your honor, Zuzu. Father will be pleased to see you, especially when he hears that you've managed to kill the Avatar."

Zuko looked stunned. "But you killed the Avatar."

"Maybe," Azula answered easily. "But I already have father's approval. How would he react to know that I've done what you've failed to do for years?" She shook her head. "No, better for you to take credit. The palace has been much too quiet without you, brother."

Zuko looked conflicted, then he glanced back to Mai. She didn't know what he saw there, but he looked back at her, suddenly suspicious. "What was the last thing between me and my honor?"

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being so difficult, Zuzu, I'm trying to help you. Besides," she said coyly, "it's not like Uncle wouldn't have met the same fate at home. I've saved him the shame."

Zuko's eyes widened in sudden understanding. He glaced between them in dawning horror. "What have you done, Azula?"

"What you were too weak to do," she sharply snapped, taking a step towards him. "He was going to be your downfall, speaking poisonous and treasonous thoughts into your head. This way, that's no longer a problem." She took a breath, immediately putting a concerned facade back on. "I only want to help you, Zuzu. You're the heir to the throne, and the nation needs your return. Father and I need your return."

He looked at her in distrust before shaking his head and backing away. "No, Azula, Uncle is royalty. He would need a trial or a direct order from Father. You can't have ordered his death. Where is he?"

Azula was nothing if not an adaptable tactician, so she said, "Alright, fine, you've got me. He's merely locked up - for now anyway. Now come along brother, and let's prepare to return home."

He eyed her long and hard before glancing at Mai, but apparently he was unable to read either of their faces because he hesitantly agreed.

~

It wasn't long at all before Azula and Zuko were ready to leave. Fire nation soldiers had come in quickly and the flags had been changed out. Ba Sing Se had officially fallen. What had taken the Dragon of the West six hundred days before failure because of one person's death had taken Azula some face paint and two friends.

It was as the royals were moving into the lower ring, Azula allowing everyone to see their new royals, that Zuko suddenly became suspicious again.

"Why is there no prison cart coming with us?" he demanded.

Azula side-eyed him, chin still raised victoriously for the earth nation peasants to see. "Whatever do you mean, Zuzu?"

His eyes looked somewhat wild. "Where is Uncle?"

She rolled her eyes. "This again? Really, Zuzu, you're better off not worrying about him."

Zuko suddenly jumped to his feet, halting their progression through the city. Behind them, Ty Lee's giggling abruptly cut off.

Flames leaped into existence around Zuko's hands.

"Now. now," Azula said, voice now hard. "Don't do anything foolish, brother. You will sit back down and regain your honor when we return home, or you can die right here and now as a traitor and a failure."

She had apparently miscalculated exactly how emotional he was, because rather than cause him to sit back down, he instead shot a blast of fire straight at her face.

She waved it aside, fury making itself known. "You'll regret that, brother."

Azula was on her own feet, sending blue flames towards her idiotic sibling in a heartbeat.

As Zuko dodged, she waived the Dai Li away since this was her fight now. Around them, the citizens of the lower ring backed out of range while more gathered to watch their fight.

Good, Azula thought. The more people to see how traitors were dealt with in the fire nation, the better.

The battle raged longer than Azula had expected, Zuko having picked up some tricks in his time away from the palace. No amount of tricks changed the well-known fact that Azula was a prodigy. It also didn't change the fact that Zuko was more ruled by emotion than ever, whereas she was coldly calculating.

She stayed on the defense, waiting for an opening. She wouldn't use her lightning. Death would be too simple for her shameful brat of a brother. No, she'd let Father handle that part. In fact . . .

When the opening came, Azula struck fast and hard, much too fast for the disgraced prince to dodge or block.

Zuko screamed as the right side of his face burned, sure to leave a scar just as horrendous as the one of the left.

Laughing wickedly, Azula waved the Dai Li forward to lock Zuko into rock chains as he continued to struggle to his feet, hands clutching uselessly at his ruined face.

She easily sidestepped him, going back to her seat. It was infinitely more satisfying, being the one to mark Zuko for his treachery. Victory tasted all the sweeter, knowing she'd done what her father would have, anticipating his praise. She was her father's daughter, and it would only make her a better Fire Lord.

She caught the horrified glance exchanged between Mai and Ty Lee. Her victorious expression was slightly diminished when her eyes narrowed suspiciously on her loyal friends.

She had just begun to demand what their problem was when a sharp pain emanated through her throat and she found herself unable to breath, something warm and wet sliding down her torso.

Her friends looked horrified and she tried to look down to see what the warm liquid was, but she was stopped when her chin collided with something sharp and metal. Her hands immediately shot up, and the pain suddenly became sharper as she realized her hands were wrapped around part of an arrow.

Blood gurgled out of her mouth and she started to turn towards the lower ring peasants where the arrow must have come from.

She was stopped by another arrow, and her shocked eyes saw it coming out of her chest before she felt it.

Azula crashed to her knees, her world once again fading in an unfortunately familiar way. She was dying.

Her chakras screamed in agony as they were tugged, and the princess knew no more.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.


	3. Chapter 3

Azula's hands promptly caught on fire, causing Mai and Ty Lee to jump at the seemingly unprompted action.

She felt fury unlike anything she'd ever felt before. The future Fire Lord murdered by cowardly peasants? Presumably a non-bender peasant? She leapt from the throne, pacing in furious circles, ignoring the steam coming off her body.

She took a deep calming breath in. The breath out was brightly blue.

She needed to plan, so thus she must be calm.

Gradually, her breaths became cool and her hands once again pale.

"Mai, Ty Lee, with me," she commanded, once again leading the girls to her room. That room, at least, seemed safe enough since her previous plan hadn't been stopped.

She continued to gather her thoughts on the way. Would a vision show more than one possible death? Could a vision let someone feel their death rather than just witnessing it? Something seemed off in that reasoning, but she still believed she'd experienced her death for a reason.

Kill the Avatar, leave Iroh alive. Dead.

Kill the Avatar, kill Iroh, leave lower ring alive. Dead.

Her eyes narrowed, fists clenching angrily. She had no way of knowing if this were simply another vision or the real deal, but she did know one thing: those peasants would be punished for daring to murder their future Fire Lord. The Earth Kingdom ways were inferior in every possible way, and she would be sure to show them the truth of that.

By the time the door clicked behind them, Azula had a new plan.

"Today," Azula declared, "Ba Sing Se will be punished for the death of my cousin, Prince Lu Ten. I have it under strong authority that the Avatar will attempt to rescue his water tribe peasant today and that my dear Uncle Iroh will attempt to betray us all." She glanced between the wide-eyed girls, before coldly stating, "Let them."

She easily interlocked her hands behind her back, looking every ounce the royal she was. "Instead," she continued, "while they are escaping, too small in number to reclaim the city with the Dai Li under my command, we will be teaching the peasants of this city what happens when the Fire Nation is disrespected. The Avatar can be dealt with later. If Zuzu can follow the boy across the world, he should be easy enough to find and deal with later."

Ty Lee nervously said, "But Azula, doesn't the Fire Lord want him out of the way as soon as possible?"

Azula's eyes narrowed at her loyal friend. "Father left the planning up to me for a reason, Ty Lee. You're being short-sighted."

The acrobat quickly nodded in agreement. "It's true, you're the smartest girl ever."

Azula allowed herself to preen for one moment, pleased for finding such loyal companions. She brushed off the persistent memory of their glance before her previous death. Plans must continue, though.

"In the meantime, I need to send some letters," she finished before telling the girls her plan.

~

The very next day, the first of the Fire Nation troops arrived. As expected, the Avatar's peasant had disappeared on the back of an air bison in the middle of the night reportedly with General Iroh and the banished Prince Zuko.

Azula couldn't say she was surprised. She had more important things to worry about, though.

Within three days, the city was teeming with Fire Nation soldiers. There had already been minor outbreaks, mostly in the lower ring since the upper ring remained unaware that anything had gone on at all. After all, there was no war in Ba Sing Se.

Between the tussles and her masterful plan of "avenging" Lu Ten, her plan was sure to put the city under further control while instilling fear deeply into the people to prevent future rebellion.

She didn't trust the Dai Li, so they remained ignorant of her plans. As far as they were aware, the Fire Nation soldiers were there for further protection as the city changed hands and to prevent the outbreak of rebellion amongst the peasants.

Azula smirked. It wasn't a lie.

~

Exactly five days after the fall of Ba Sing Se, firebending soldiers started on the outer wall and steadily made their way inwards, raining death and destruction on every peasant that got in their way.

Amongst their number was the Princess Azula, cackling away as her own blue flames wrapped around the bodies of anyone in her way. She spared no mercy for anyone, be they man, woman, child, elder, or cripple. She had no way of knowing who had arranged her death, but she would leave no chances of them surviving this.

Her soldiers followed her command, and she ignored those amongst their number who had to stop to throw up. So long as the job was finished, she didn't care for their delicate sensibilities.

Perhaps it was the scent of burning flesh, or maybe the smoke rising, or even the desperate screams of the peasants that attracted the Dai Li's attention.

Regardless, Azula noticed when holes starting forming on the inner wall, peasants suddenly streaming further into the city.

Long Fend himself emerged from the ground at her feet along with ten Dai Li agents.

"What is the meaning of this?" the man demanded. "Why are you burning my city?"

Azula sneered. "I am purifying the Fire Lord's city in the name of Agni and in the name of my fallen cousin Crown Prince Lu Ten, so cruelly murdered by these disgusting peasants." Her boot made contact with a burned lump beside her. "Those not directly involved were likely fed propaganda or are criminal refugees fleeing from their new Fire Lord."

Long Feng's face was as blank as the Dai Li around him. "And when do you plan to stop, Princess Azula?"

She regarded him thoughtfully before easily shrugging. "I will stop when the filth is gone, I suppose. Don't worry, the lower ring is all that I'm after." Her eyes narrowed, and she took a threatening step towards him. "The real question here is why the wall has been opened to allow the peasants to flee higher into the city?" She tilted her head. "Unless, that is, you would like us to purge the next ring as well?"

Long Feng paled. "Of course not, Princess Azula."

"Good," she demurely agreed. Her voice then went cold. "Then close the wall."

At a gesture, the passages in the walls rumbled back to a close, desperate cries rising with it. Around Long Feng, the Dai Li remained motionless and expressionless.

She side-stepped them, blue fire once again alighting her features. "Then either get out of our way or risk burning as well. This should all be over soon."

She made her way further into the city, hearing Long Fend murmur, "Yes, it will all be over soon."

She stiffened, but it was too late.

The ground opened underneath her feet, causing her to plummet.

She heard the walls around her grinding inwards before she felt the compression on her body.

In comparison to the other deaths, this one seemed almost quick.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

"Well then," she said.


	4. Chapter 4

Azula reflected on her most recent death as she was once again crushed within hours of personally leaving Long Feng a charred corpse in a random room.

The Dai Li were less loyal in the light of their former leaders's death.

Unfortunate, and certainly something to keep in mind.

~

Azula was methodical in gathering all of the Dai Li, Long Feng included, into the throne room for an announcement. They suspiciously eyed the dozen Fire Nation soldiers standing against the walls, but they still entered.

A cruel smile curled over her lips.

Unfortunately, she found herself smothered in her sleep without the Dai Li to keep the peasants in their place.

~

With the blood of the water tribe peasant on her hands, Azula laughed and laughed when the Avatar showed up, his eyes welling tears.

"You're weak for caring so much for a peasant," she told him, body already making the motions of her lightning kata.

When he spoke, it was echoing with the voices of a thousand other Avatars. "No. You are weak to wield fear."

Her kata was complete, launching lightning unerringly at the Avatar.

Iroh stepped in front of the boy, personally deflecting the lightning.

From behind her, Zuko swung down two dao swords.

Azula entered the next cycle smoking.

~

"Blah, blah, blah, heard it before," Azula said, blood coated hands sending lightning towards the Avatar.

With no Iroh to deflect and no Zuko to sever her head, her lightning was unstoppable.

It was Avatar Roku who deflected the lightning, and it was Avatar Roku who destroyed her.

~

The noble blood of Ba Sing Se stained her hands, soot raining on the city from the upper level.

She laughed even as her flames burned brighter, her hair still perfectly in place despite the ash staining her clothes.

In the lower level, thousands of people fled outside of the city where her soldiers were waiting to take them prisoner or kill them if they weren't cooperative.

Azula personally hoped they weren't.

"You won't get away with this," a girl younger than herself suddenly said, emerging from the ash raining down.

Azula met the cloudy green eyes and only laughed louder. "A blind rich girl? Move aside and perhaps I'll spare you. We can always use some entertainment in the palace."

"I'll show you entertainment."

Azula, high on the thrill of victory and unconcerned by the threats of a blind girl dressed like a porcelain doll, distractedly sent a burst of blue fire towards the girl.

Blind as the girl was, she made no move to step away.

It was all the more reason why Azula was too late to defend herself when the walls of the estate collapsed around her, burying her in rubble.

Blood pooled underneath her, and she could feel a long stretch of stone embedded through her rib cage. She coughed wetly, blood spilling over her lips. Her breaths weakly rattled, and she knew she'd failed once more. She felt herself spiraling.

"That's for the Beifongs."

~

The Beifongs were the first to go the next cycle, executed for high treason against the Fire Lord.

The Beifongs were the wealthiest family and some of the most beloved. The Dai Li did not stop the assassins that came that night.

Princess Azula died with a slit throat.

~

Zuko and Iroh both fell to her lightning, summarily wiping out half of the royal family and any competition to her throne.

When she announced their deaths, she failed to notice the look Mai and Ty Lee shared behind her back.

She also failed to notice the growing dissent amongst the Fire Nation soldiers.

For the first time, the fire princess died to her own element.

~

Getting massive quantities of poison was easy with enough gold.

That night, every water source in Ba Sing Se was poisoned, and Azula was the only one who didn't drink.

She watched, bored, as her loyal friends choked on their own blood.

What she hadn't accounted for was the group currently undergoing a water fast that would want revenge when everyone around them dropped dead after consuming water.

Azula was force fed the poison by a waterbender, on her hands and knees courtesy of nearly a dozen earthbenders.

With the waterbender, they were able to drink clean water.

Azula, on the other hand, had been too paranoid to drink even the water she'd specifically sat aside for herself.

She still choked on her own blood in the end.

~

She died to a severe head injury after being tripped over the upper wall.

~

Iroh managed to catch her in the face with his fire breath, hot enough that her brain boiled before she'd even registered the pain.

~

She'd spent two days on the throne, constantly on the brink of hyperventilation, staring at the doors of the room.

She ignored everything Mai and Ty Lee said to her. She ignored the Dai Li even when Long Feng had been escorted to her.

Azula didn't make a single noise until someone tried to remove her from the throne. She didn't care who the gentle hands belonged to which was all the better considering they were now a smoking heap on the floor.

She wasn't quite sure what led to her death that time. Perhaps she'd simply lost all will to live, her luck having long since ran out.

~

The next set of cycles were amongst the most violent attempts.

It had taken some time and Agni knows how many failed attempts, but Azula had finally managed to completely destroy Ba Sing Se.

Two weeks in and the city was a ghost town, as summarily wiped out as the Air Temples had been a century before.

Azula left Ba Sing Se with her head raised high, royal guards escorting her out of the city where she would report to the Fire Lord that she had taken the last stronghold.

A smirk curled over her lips, pleased with herself.

Another part of her was simply exhausted.

She wasn't sure how many times she'd relived the same days, but surely she'd broken the loop now. She'd destroyed Ba Sing Se, and Agni must be satisfied by the work she had done. She felt more stable than she had in recent cycles, but something within her felt off, untamed, uncontrolled.

She could take a well-deserved break to rest before Sozin's comet, gathering herself and plotting. Then, her father would rise to rule the world, and she would take her destined role of Fire Lord. Her posture straightened even more at the idea, and she was already making plans for which Fire Council members she would allow and which ones she would be . . . disposing of at her earliest convenience.

Honestly, she could just get rid of the council all together. After all, the throne was her birthright and old politicians trying to manipulate her and "advise" her would only slow her down and get in the way of her goals.

No, that simply wouldn't do.

Best to get rid of them as soon as she was crowned.

She continued to plot on the journey home.

Azula was drowned two miles out of Ba Sing Se on dry land, barely catching sight of blue clothes fighting amongst red.

She sent a strike of lightning at the peasant who filled her lungs.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

She used that air to unleash as much fire as she possibly could on the that stupid throne room. It was only when the oxygen was getting dangerously depleted and scorch marks tarnished every part of the room that she calmly breathed for a moment.

She brushed the soot off herself, turned to her (barely) loyal friends, and said, "Well, girls, I think it's time to try something different."


	5. Chapter 5

Mai and Ty Lee looked over the destruction she had caused with a respectable amount of concern.

Azula's eyes narrowed slightly to herself. Concern tended to be the beginning of betrayal with those two, and she'd likely need their loyalty while she figured out what had gone so wrong with the previous time-loop.

She had been so sure that the key to ending the time-loop was to put an end to Ba Sing Se.

She thought over the previous attempt. She had gotten rid of everyone who had led to her downfall in any attempt, completely destroyed the city, and was on her way to bring news of her success to her father.

She'd taken Ba Sing Se and exited the city, but she'd still died?

A troubling idea itched in the back of her mind. Was she simply not meant to leave Ba Sing Se alive?

She paced the scorched throne room thoughtfully. No, surely that couldn't be it. Agni wanted her to do something, she was sure of it.

Another thought hit. What if she went one loop doing simply nothing? Technically, the city was already hers because of the Dai Li, and generally her death only happened after she killed someone starting with the Avatar in her first failed attempt.

She paused, mulling that over. While it would be annoying to let the Avatar free, her thinking had been sound in the first loop that she'd ignored him. If Zuzu could follow him across the world, she easily could. It would be closer to Sozin's comet than perhaps desired if she managed to break the time loop, but it certainly wasn't undoable.

She hated to admit it, even to herself, but she was one more peasant-caused death away from completely losing it. She was a royal of the Fire Nation, gifted with divine right by Agni himself, and she would succeed and remain in control.

She paced more furiously at the realization of how little control she truly had. It was control Agni had taken, so it was acceptable. He would want her to be in control regardless becuase that's what a great FIre Lord did. They were in control, and they did what it took to remain in control.

She looked at Mai and Ty Lee, still watching her in barely veiled concern.

Azula had no true allies in Ba Sing Se or perhaps anywhere in the world. Mai and Ty Lee had proven that they wouldn't remain loyal to her indefinitely. Zuko and Iroh wouldn't know loyalty if it clawed its way out of their chests. The Dai Li and Long Feng were loyal to her only as long as the citizens of Ba Sing Se remained untouched.

The only person in the world that she could trust was her father.

A childish urge to visit him hit her, but she ruthlessly brushed it aside. Father gave her a mission, and she would succeed. Ba Sing Se would be his, and she would personally see to the Avatar.

Although, if she did want to go home, it would be a good idea to know exactly how stable the Fire Nation occupation of Ba Sing Se was.

Azula felt calmer than she had in dozens of time cycles, now that she was claiming stronger control by meticulously planning. So perhaps spend this cycle planning and doing nothing active, then some figuring out how to kill the Avatar and his companion without dying, then leave the city and watch from just outside to see what happened, then return home victorious.

Azula nodded to herself. Yes, that was a good plan.

Now, she just had to spend her days lounging on the throne, keep anyone from betraying her, keep the Avatar from returning to reclaim the city, and watch what happened. She would need her Agni-given control for this, she was sure.

~

Days passed unbearably slowly, even when she turned to training her fire bending in her free time. No amount of katas, spars, or victories made idly waiting to see what would happen less sour.

The Dai Li had reported the escape of the Avatar and the water peasant, and she had responded with, "Yes, I'm aware. It is part of the plan."

Ty Lee came to her, informing her that Mai and her had discovered the Jasmine Dragon. It took every ounce of her control to prevent her from going to mock her family for stooping so low as to serve peasants. Mai especially seemed suspicious when she merely replied, "Unfortunate, but not unsurprising. They always did lack the favor of Agni."

Six days after her occupation, she became aware of whispers growing in the lower ring. Reportedly led by some of the refugee orphans and the Blue Spirit, rumors were being spread about the Fire Nation presence in Ba Sing Se.

Scorch marks were inevitable on the throne as she reminded herself that she couldn't eliminate the rumor spreaders.

Long Feng gradually became more confident in her presence, and she had to bite down the urge to be done with him. It only took the occasional reminder of her own power to keep him shut down, but she wasn't fond of the increasingly thoughtful look in his eyes.

~

Three weeks of doing nothing to influence events eventually peaked at the head when a massive rebellion rocked the city.

The Dai Li, still loyal to her, guarded her, and Long Feng asked her what they should do.

She longed to tell them to kill them all, but she instead answered, "They are fearful of what they do not know. Calm them and kill as few as you can. I will meet with the nobles of the city to explain the new rule."

Long Feng seemed surprised, but he agreed.

Azula wondered if meeting with the nobles was considered an active role in the time loop.

Probably, she sourly decided. Now, how to meet with them in a passive way?

~

The nobles were gathered in a courtyard, and Azula breezed onto a balcony overlooking it, a piece of carved wood she'd plucked off a table in her hands.

"As I'm sure you've all noticed from the rebellion the lower ring has sprung, the leadership of Ba Sing Se has changed hands. I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and I was sent by my father, the Fire Lord. Without rebellion or struggling, this change of power will not affect your lives in any negative light. In fact, this will likely increase trade opportunities. While I long to keep the peace, the lower ring has been adamant about needlessly fighting which will lead to nothing but suffering and bloodshed in the future. You all wield a remarkable amount of power. Use it to stomp out this rebellion, and it is sure to be in Ba Sing Se's best interests. Otherwise, I'm sure the consequences will be unpleasant."

Azula turned her attention to the piece of decorative wood in her grasp which promptly caught on fire. She left the meaning of that gesture to their imaginations, turning around and walking back inside.

There, let the nobles deal with the peasant scum. That was passive enough, surely.

~

Just as she predicted, the nobles were able to get rid of the rebellion in a relatively short amount of time.

Azula continued to lounge around the throne room, endlessly bored. Her control continued, but she itched with the need to be more active. Father would soon hear news that Ba Sing Se was theirs, and he would be expecting her to finish off the Avatar soon. She had carefully ignored rumors of his whereabouts to avoid suspicion about her lack of action, but she carefully filed the information of his movements away.

After all, she still had a mission to complete.

~

Less than a week after the remnants of the rebellion were put to rest by the nobles, Azula was wondering when the time loop would send her back.

She'd never had time to wonder before, but now she mused over the longevity of the loop. She was always sent back to the same moment in time, but she rarely ended a loop at the same time. Was it simply tied to her life, or did she only have to survive for a certain amount of time for the loop to be broken?

She would see what happened in the next loops, but that was always a potential thread to follow. After all, while she was bored beyond all comprehension, if she could simply lock herself up until a certain time to ensure the loop was over, that was a good idea.

Azula suddenly sat up straight.

If the loop were to be broken, she would be losing a major tactical advantage. Right now, if she had doubts about anyone or anything, she could simply tug at the idea. If she died, then she'd know better next time.

But if there wasn't a next time, she wouldn't be able to be as bold.

Azula poked at her food, thoughtful.

At what point would she have spent enough time in the loop for it to simply be too dangerous for her to die? She'd been in this particular loop for almost two months, longer than she'd ever gone.

She distractedly ate, ignoring the babbling of Ty Lee and the quiet laughs of Mai.

Azula couldn't risk truly dying. Agni had given this time loop as a gift more precious than she had ever before realized. She had a lot of information collected from her time in Ba Sing Se, and she now knew better than ever that she could trust no one but herself and Father. It would have been beneficial to be able to know the workings of the Caldera half as well as she now knew Ba Sing Se. On top of that, she was already likely the best fire bender alive, but . . . what if she focussed more on training and uncovering new techniques, rising from the best alive to the best of all time?

She was so absorbed in the hidden potential that she'd possibly lost that when her breath became short, she merely thought it was due to new understanding.

It was when she couldn't breath at all and her (mostly) loyal friends starting calling for the guards that she understood: she'd been poisoned, likely by one of the peasant cooks.

Azula knew well enough by now what it felt like to be too far gone to survive, and she was definitely past the point of no return.

She'd be learning if she'd pushed the time loop too far the hard way, it seemed.

Azula was calm as the poison destroyed her body.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

For the first time, Azula entered a time loop with a smile on her face.

If it was sadistic in nature . . . well, it’s not like anyone would remember it anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

After the sheer boredom of the last time loop, Azula wanted to do something more simultaneously more familiar and more interesting than wasting time lounging around on a throne. Now that she knew she'd likely be stuck in this time loop for an indefinite amount of time, she could afford to take one loop to gather information in a less meticulously planned way. Perhaps she could even have some fun.

Now, what was familiar yet interesting that she hadn't done yet?

A cruel smirk crept onto her face as she remembered the report about the Jasmine Dragon.

What was more familiar than humiliating dear Zuzu?

Beside her, Ty Lee and Mai shot her concerned looks, something that was becoming routine and quite boring.

She debated bringing the girls with her to the tea shop, but she decided it would be more interesting to go by herself. At some point, she would have to prod at the girls until she knew the exact lines of their loyalty and when they would betray her, but that was for another time.

She was tempted to show up in her fire nation reds, but she wanted to torment her traitorous family members and a panicked crowd fleeing likely wouldn't help her endeavor.

She wanted to watch them sweat.

~

She felt vindictive pleasure watching the color drain from Zuko's face when he cut off mid-sentence, eyes widening in horror once he recognized who was commandeering the newly occupied table.

"No, no, go on, Zuzu," Azula said, words curling, eyes glinting. "Please do tell me what the special for today is. I'd be most interested in hearing how you can serve me."

His hands were clutching a teapot so hard that they were bone white, and she wasn't sure he was breathing. He audibly swallowed and tensely continued, "Today's special is ginseng tea. We also have a variety of meal options."

Her lips curled in the mockery of a smile. "No food for now." He seemed almost relieved, so she continued, "I want to save my appetite for dinner time, after all. I'm sure the Jasmine Dragon has plenty of options for the meal. Perhaps I’ll eat here.”

Zuko's skin was turning almost green and if he were any more tense, one breeze would be enough to tip him over.

She clicked her nails against the table. "I'll take a pot of that ginseng tea."

Azula thoughtfully appraised him as he stiffly nodded before rushing away to another table.

"Oh and brother?" she called. He froze. "I must say that serving suits you well."

Humiliation darkened his face.

She laughed to herself. Yes, coming here had certainly been a fantastic idea.

~

It wasn't long before Iroh himself was placing a tea cup and a pot of steaming tea in front of her.

"Uncle," she greeted wryly, "how surprising to find you here. Tea always did seem to overwhelm your sense."

Iroh regarded her suspiciously even as he poured her a cup of ginseng. "What are you doing here, Azula?"

She narrowed her eyes, making no move to touch the steaming cup. "Can I not want to visit my precious family in a strange city?" Her voice became frigid. "And that's Princess to you, General Iroh."

The old man stiffened, shooting a darting glance around as if testing to see if anyone had heard her. His eyes flashed when he again regarded her, only reminding her of the times he'd not hesitated before murdering her.

His voice was low when he said, "I don't know what you're doing here, but we don't want anything to do with it." It looked like it pained him to continue, but continue he did. "If you are trying to ascertain our intentions, know that we have no plan of contesting your eventual rule. We're trying to create a new life here, Princess."

She tilted her head slightly, looking at him in a slightly new manner. Now, that was interesting.

She could find no trace of deceit in his lined face, but Azula was far from the only manipulator in their family. She also knew first hand how likely he was to turn on her, having faced her death by his hand many times.

She finally reached for the teacup, taking a slow sip while eying him over its rim. After a long moment, she said, "And you what? Want me to believe that you'll be content living a life of servitude as a simple tea shop worker?"

Iroh seemed to calm slightly, his usual mask returning to his face. "Life leads us in many ways, Princess, not all predicted. Sometimes it is better to let life take us where it may."

Perhaps he would have more unfortunate . . . wisdom to impart on her, but Zuko appeared behind him, saying, "Uncle, we need more tea brewed."

Iroh turned back towards the counter, but before Zuko could also rush off, she said, "Come now, brother, and sit with your sister."

Zuko tensed and exchanged a long look with the failed general, but he hesitantly sat with her. He produced a cup from his apron and poured himself a glass of her tea.

At her raised eyebrow, he sullenly said, "Like you were going to pay for it anyway."

She merely hummed noncommittally while observing him, once again taking a sip of tea to prolong the silence and, thus, his discomfort.

"Why are you really here?" he quietly demanded, clearly trying to avoid the attention the nosy customers had begun shooting her table.

"Perhaps I am here merely to watch you squirm," she told him, closer to the truth of the matter than he'd ever believe. "Or perhaps this: Uncle seems convinced that you both shall remain simple tea servers for the rest of your days, content to never challenge my eventual reign. Is this true?"

Zuzu never had been a good liar, and a complex series of emotions flitted across his face. She was already well aware that he was only a few good nudges away from abandoning everything for the sake of Father's acceptance, but he didn't know she was privy to that information. His expression finally settled on agitation. "Uncle is happy here, Azula, and I don't want to compromise that. Father won't accept me home, and we both know it."

She raised one eyebrow, taking another prolonged sip of the tea, watching him with glinted eyes. "Do we now?"

He sucked in a deep breath, and she saw how he tried to stamp out the twinge of hope from his voice when he responded, "Have you spoken with Father?"

He was unsuccessful.

"I, unlike you, have been uniquely blessed by Agni," she told him, "and I, unlike you, speak with Father often." Here, her eyes turned shrewd, looking at him. "Father misses you, you know." A lie. "He has been eagerly awaiting news of your success since the Avatar has returned." A lie. "I have since personally experienced the Avatar, and I can see why it has been so difficult for you." A lie. "Father would understand if I spoke to him, and you could return home to help us with our plans for Sozin's comet before you complete your mission." A lie.

Zuko swallowed before downing his entire cup of tea in one swing. "Why would Father suddenly change his mind after I've been banished for years with no word?"

"Precisely because of that, Zuzu. It has been years since he has seen you last, and you are heir to the throne." Here, her voice went cold again. "Of course, it will likely come as no surprise that we have no intention of allowing you the throne. I have been blessed by Agni since birth, and it is mine." She took a breath, then continued softer, "It is likely that part of you being able to come home early would include abdicating the throne to me, and frankly? I cannot see how you would want it anyway when this is your idea of life."

She waved a hand around the tea shop, nose curled in hardly concealed contempt.

She grew bored of the game, rising from her seat, disliking the green fabric that moved with her.

She didn't bother to pay for the tea, instead telling Zuko, "Think about it, at least. I'll return soon enough for an answer."

She could feel Iroh's flinty gaze following her out, and a smirk curled over her lips, unseen by the disgraced royals.

~

Back in her rooms with Mai and Ty Lee, she decided to try tugging at another thread.

"Father has been in contact with me," she told them, allowing her voice to sound slightly troubled. "He has given me news of the plan for the comet."

"Ooh," Ty Lee responded, distracted from her dinner. "That's exciting! Anything we can know about?"

Azula rose, staring out over Ba Sing Se, allowing a frown to mar her face. "All classified, I'm afraid."

Mai moved to stand beside her, silent for a long moment. "Something is wrong, isn't it?"

Azula merely frowned harder. "I don't know. Some of Father's plans . . ." She shook her head, allowing a soft laugh. "Nevermind, the Fire Lord is being led by Agni."

Azula carefully ignored the quick look exchanged between her friends, content that the first seeds of treachery had been planted.


	7. Chapter 7

As was the case with all fire benders, Azula's eyes opened with the first rays of sunrise.

As always (without her interference anyway), the air bison had been spotted the night before fleeing Ba Sing Se. Since it had gone well last loop, she again simply replied that it was part of her plan.

Rejuvenated by the groundworks she'd set in place the day before and much more optimistic about the time loop, she stretched out her muscles before beginning a morning meditation that would only end once it was time for breakfast.

As it were, the herald of breakfast was the familiar and ever enthusiastic knocking on Ty Lee, Mai quietly waiting beside her.

She allowed the girls to entertain her during breakfast, but a part of her mind was on her newest plots. It would be too suspicious to nudge them any further for another couple of days, and the same was true for her traitorous family members. She could, of course, simply relax in this time and plan for future schemes, but Azula was nothing if not a skilled multitasker, and she planned to use the time loops efficiently.

Her food done, she rose from her seat. "I have business to attend to today. I will see you both in the morning for breakfast, I expect."

With that she made her leave, leaving the girls to their own devices. If they found her dismissal odd, they knew better than to comment.

~

Long Feng eyed her curiously when he made his way into the throne room, clearly wondering why he'd been summoned.

"Princess Azula," he greeted, smoothing bowing at the waist.

"Long Feng," she replied, already quite bored of his presence. "I have some questions for you regarding the city."

His face was carefully blank, but she was more than aware of the fondness he held for Ba Sing Se. A glimmer of suspicion flickered in his eyes. "May I ask for what purpose?"

She rolled her eyes. "If I am to actively rule this city for any duration of time, should I not have some knowledge on its workings? I could always consult the ledgers, but I rather think utilizing your expertise will be more efficient."

There, let his ego be stroked by her pretty words. Time would tell whether he would give her any factual answers.

He seemed surprised by her stated intentions, but unsurprisingly preened at her appraisal of him. For a man who operated on manipulation to be so easily manipulated was some strange mixture of ironic and deeply pathetic, she mused.

"My knowledge is at your disposal, Princess."

"Excellent," she said, a smirk just tugging at her lips.

~

It hadn't taken long for her to tire of the politics of Ba Sing Se. She had to admit she was impressed with the Dai Li's effectiveness, but they had only set the city up for failure, offering the city to her on a silver platter.

It was just one more sign that Agni had intended her to take the city.

It was just past lunch, and she wanted to prod the city from another angle this time. She had been displeased enough to disguise herself as a Kyoshi Warrior, but at least they were warriors.

This, she thought in disgust as she observed her reflection, was much worse. She'd styled her hair in Earth Kingdom fashion and dressed herself in the low quality rags of peasants. There was nothing to be done about her golden eyes, but they would only benefit her in this case. Azula was a prodigy in all ways, and Agni would always hold her in favor. If the occasional subterfuge would help light her way, then so be it.

It was with these thoughts that she descended upon the lower ring, carefully shredding her own persona and replacing it with a wide-eyed refugee.

She found herself at a small shop near the outermost gates, and she approached the saleswoman, allowing false hesitation to transform herself into something unrecognizable.

She cleared her throat. "Can I . . . can I ask if there are any refugee centers near here?" The woman looked up, startled. "It's only that I've only just arrived from the colonies, and I don't know the city well yet."

The woman looked from her battered clothing to her golden eyes before a look of deep pity overtook her features. Azula had intended for her eye color, the mark of Fire Nation, to draw such despicable connotations when paired with her Earth Kingdom clothing. Unfortunate, but a useful tool to wield, given the stories emerging from the colonies. "I'm not sure they'll have what you're looking for, dear, but they're in the western portion of the ring. They'll be hard to miss."

~

The shop keeper had been correct in that they were hard to miss.

Azula could smell the refugees long before she could see them, and her nose wrinkled at the scent of body odor, detritus, and Agni knows what else.

She carefully unwrinkled her nose long before she came into sight of the refugees, and she received almost no attention after a quick cursory glance as she approached. She was far from the only one coming or going.

She spoke to five separate refugees around the fringes. One seemed concerned for her weight, and she controlled her temper before moving along. Two seemed distrustful of her eye color, even though the flash of understanding went through their own when she told them her false origins. The other three were useless, each drowning in their own misery too much to answer her questions.

Before long, she spotted a group of three girls near her own age, and she made in their direction, carefully keeping her royal gait hidden behind more clumsy and hesitant steps.

The girls seemed wary as she approached, but she smiled hesitantly at them.

As hoped - and already more promising than the other residents - they returned the smile after a moment.

"Hi," she quietly greeted. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm Foyi, and I just arrived to Ba Sing Se today. Would you . . . would you be willing to show me around?"

The trio of girls exchanged looks, but the girl with dirt brown hair stepped forward and said, "Sure, why not? I'm Fora. This is Mekan and Shi." She gestured to the dark haired girl and the red haired girls respectively. "Welcome to Ba Sing Se."

"It's good to be here." She paused before clearing her throat. "I actually have a bit of a question. So, um, I'm from the colonies, and the Fire Nation drove me out which is why I'm, you know, here. And they're kind of everywhere now. But I've had multiple people tell me - "

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se," the three girls intoned dryly before laughing. Fora, the leader, lowered her voice to a bare whisper, "Look, you're new here, so you've got a bit of leeway, but you've got to be careful what you say around who." The girl's eyes lingered on the gold of hers before asking, "How do you feel about the Fire Nation?"

Azula kept her voice low, following the lead of the other girls. She was sardonically amused as she shakily and angrily bit out, "They're evil. They took everything from me, and they have to be stopped."

The trio of girls exchanged deeply thoughtful looks before Fora turned back to her. Azula didn't imagine the look of desperation in the girl's eyes. She said, "Would you do anything to stop them?"

"Yes."

Fora smiled at her. "Then I've got some people for you to meet."

Azula tasted sweet victory, and she carefully kept her face innocent and curious.

She always had been lucky.

~

No less than two hours later, she found herself led by Fora into a building off an alleyway. The girl led her through a battered doorway, then into a room occupied by a middle-aged man. He looked up when they entered, but didn't seem surprised. His shoulders seemed to hold the weight of the world, and his eyes were exhausted. Behind that, however, Azula recognized the stubborn glint. She'd seen it in her own eyes.

"Foyi, this is Rulun. He's in charge of one of the resistance groups here. Rulun, this is Fuyi. She just got here from the colonies and wants to help stop the Fire Nation."

Rulun rose to his feet to greet her. "It is always good to have more numbers in our attempts to get Ba Sing Se involved in the war."

Azula smiled. "It would be my pleasure to assist you."

~

Like her other endeavors, understanding the true scope of the peasants who wouldn't accept Fire Nation rule would take time.

Luckily, Azula was quite patient and had an indefinite number of opportunities to fail and try again.

~

Her schemes continued as planned during the next few weeks.

She had returned to the Jasmine Dragon to continue tormenting Zuzu. He was still overly suspicious of her, which was fine. Part of playing to long game would be gaining some modicum of his trust. It had been over three years since she had last been around him, and she needed a better idea of how he had changed in his time away from the Capitol. Speaking with him had the added advantage of subtly grilling him for information about places he'd visited in his exile.

After all, Azula had no plan to remain in Ba Sing Se for much longer when she could instead extend her knowledge base, blackmail material, and ability to obliterate the remaining resistance against the Fire Nation.

Zuko was also fun to torment.

As for Mai and Ty Lee, she had continued to occasionally slip hints that she may be growing discontent with her father's decisions. As if she would ever betray her Fire Lord, blessed of Agni.

Regardless, her friends were clearly noticing her seeming turmoil. While they spoke no treason, Mai had paused on her way out of Azula's rooms one day, saying, "You know that we'll always side with you, no matter what, right?"

Azula knew them to be false words, and she was filled with the urge to scream and maybe throw some plates, but she instead relaxed her fists that were clenched in her lap, saying, "Of course. You and Ty Lee are the best friends I could ask for."

While Azula wanted to throttle the girls in order to discover if their loyalty laid more with the Fire Nation or with herself, she knew that time would reveal the answers far more truthfully.

Meanwhile, Long Feng had taken it upon himself to educate her on Ba Sing Se with an enthusiasm that was almost concerning. In the morning, she would wake to find scrolls of important history waiting with the Dai Li guards. In the afternoon, Long Feng himself would descend upon her to regale her with tales of how to keep the people in line. At night, he would pass her more scrolls displaying pertinent figures regarding trade and money distribution. These were often accompanied by the newest numbers of people entering and leaving the city.

While informative, it was annoying having the man nipping at her heels, clearly wanting to show off his usefulness and perhaps receive praise. He was truly pathetic.

Thus far, the most informative endeavor by far was her work mapping out the webs of resistance in Ba Sing Se.

Rulun was desperate for more help, but not a complete idiot. He kept her from knowing many things, but he believed her innocent and dumb act, using her to run messages between him and the other two major resistance leaders in the city.

She supposed between his belief that she couldn't read, the quickness of her deliveries, and the intact wax seals, that he believed she couldn't possibly be gleaning any compromising information from the correspondences.

What he didn't know was that Azula was a remarkably fast reader with an extraordinarily good memory, and that had learned from Father himself how to carefully reseal a letter using her bending. It was an advantage to never seem ruffled when a troubling letter arrived in the middle of a court meeting (as if it had only just arrived rather than hours before), and he had also imparted on her the wisdom of periodically checking everyones mail, taking care to check any and all of the mail to and from anyone acting suspicious. Occasionally, even the most trustworthy of followers would have their mail swept too. It was best to leave nothing to chance.

And, oh, how informative those letters between the resistance leaders were.

She was still parsing out information, but she knew enough that she could likely stifle it in mere hours if so needed, especially since it seemed that their numbers truly were low, with their numbers shooting up only when she'd made it seem necessary. It would be useful information whenever she was free of the time loop.

~

As entertaining as the resistance was, it still led to complications.

About a month in to her schemes, she walked back towards the upper ring, steps still graceless just in case anyone was watching.

She discovered that she was indeed being watched when large arms grabbed her from behind, dragging her into an alley.

She was furious that she'd been snuck up on, but she was also curious. She hadn't done anything to make anyone want to kill her this time loop (as far as she was aware anyway), so why was she being attacked?

It was when she was slammed against a wall and counted three men staring at her with hungry eyes that she realized what was actually happening.

They hadn't even gotten a good look at her when blue flames were being breathed into the face of the man who'd slammed her against the wall.

His face melted off as he screamed in agony for the few short seconds before he perished.

The other two men tried to run, but she lunged after them, gripping each by the back of the neck with blue burning hands.

She felt nothing but pleasure as she burned the men who had actually thought they could overpower her or defile her in any way.

Their bodies dropped to the ground before she realized she had managed to partially melt the metal clasp of one of their shirts.

Azula's eyebrows rose. "My fire is getting stronger."

In her momentary distraction, she felt more than heard a thud that hit her right in the back over her heart. Warm liquid pooled down her back. She realized that a knife must have been thrown at her heart, and it's aim was mostly true. There would be no surviving this.

She'd already fallen to her knees at the first impact, and she instinctually tried to curl in to herself in a futile attempt to relieve the pain.

It was the resistance leader Rulun who spoke, "I knew there was something off about you, Foyi. We can't have a Fire Nation spy walking these streets."

The last thing she noticed was that his voice seemed almost regretful. She wondered if he'd arranged for those men to attack her, or if he'd simply been near and seen her flames.

She spared a moment of regret for how she'd never quite figured out how far Mai and Ty Lee were willing to go for her, or how far Zuko needed to be pushed to join her.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

She sighed. "I am getting very tired of this city."


	8. Chapter 8

Azula contemplated her next move. Her plots had been half-completed at best during the last time loop. She could spend this chance edging along the same goals, speeding the process up with her advanced knowledge.

On the other hand, she'd spent weeks working on that, and as good as she was with subterfuge, it got tiring quickly. With the time loops showing no sign of ending, there wouldn't be any harm in taking a slight break from those particular manipulations.

Now, what did she really, really want to do?

The truth of that answer appeared almost instantly, and she hesitated because she knew she would have some hard questions to answer once she arrived.

Actually?

Bring on the hard questions, she could figure out the best answers through trial and error.

Azula was ready to go home.

~

As great as it would have been to just pack a bag and march straight back to a ship to go home, Azula couldn't leave Ba Sing Se with Long Feng poking his nose around, so she would need to set up a puppet government. It would also be a good opportunity to test the competency of the Fire Nation general she had lined up for the position.

She sent a message for him to hurry up and get to Ba Sing Se, and it only took three days for Azanu to arrive.

It was a simple matter of giving him precise orders while feeding him enough blackmail material and in-depth knowledge of the city that he shouldn't struggle too much to keep it under control in her absence.

When she stated her intentions to him to leave the city, Azanu asked, "To pursue the Avatar, Your Highness?"

She smirked. "Amongst other things."

~

Mai and Ty Lee had been baffled by her sudden change in plans, but they quickly packed their bags as well.

"What about the mission?" Ty Lee asked as they made their way out of the city. They had dressed as refugees to make the two day treck to their ship easier. From there, they would have to journey down a river before hitting the ocean. Then it would be smooth sailing to the Fire Nation.

"It can wait," Azula said.

There was a moment of silence and then Mai moved to cut her off, forcing her to halt or collide.

"Mai," Azula warned, eyes narrowing.

Mai seemed less concerned about her tone, and more concerned about, well, her in general. "Azula, the Fire Lord was clear that he wanted you to capture Zuko and Iroh and for the Avatar to be taken care of. How will he react to you showing up without succeeding in any of those things?"

She paused, noting the genuine concern in Mai's voice and in Ty Lee's frantic nodding. She rolled her eyes, and wryly commented, "Don't worry, we can always try again if it doesn't work out this time."

Her companions exchanged extremely concerned looks.

Ty Lee was the one to speak this time. "Azula . . . what if your father doesn't react well?"

Azula narrowed her eyes. "Are you insinuating that my father will not understand? Let me make one thing clear: my father loves me as I love him, and he knows that I would not return without reason. Or are you instead insinuating that I don't know what I'm doing?"

The girls exchanged another glance, but there was really nothing else they could say to that.

~

Azula practically held her breath as they exited Ba Sing Se territory, expecting her death to come any second.

Her spirits lifted as they made their way further into the Earth Kingdom, rapidly approaching their boat.

She'd actually left Ba Sing Se!

Unfortunately, going to the Fire Nation simply wasn't meant to be yet.

They boarded their boat, nodding hello to the solider standing on guard, but they hadn't known the crew. Thus, they had no way of knowing that the crew had been pillaged by pirates that had decided to linger when they realized exactly who's ship it was.

Clearly, the pirates were intending to take all three of them hostage.

It was her cosmically (and probably spirits arranged) bad luck with dying that caused one of the pirates to tip her over the edge of the boat, her head solidly smacking against it as she tumbled into the water below.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

That was . . . enlightning. And extraordinarily frustrating.

She now knew two important things: she apparently could leave Ba Sing Se and she would have to rely on herself to get any further than her pirate-infested boat.

She tapped her nails thoughtfully against the throne. While a part of her wanted to try again, desperately wanting to go home since she'd been stuck in this thrice-damned city for years, another part of her knew that once she left Ba Sing Se, she wouldn't want to return.

Best to continue chasing some ideas while she was in the city.

~

Azula decided to ignore her traitorous relatives this loop since she could focus on . . . dealing with them before she went to the Fire Nation since it would probably help her case to have them dealt with when she reported to her father.

She also didn't particularly feel like having Long Feng following her around like a puppy, trying to teach her all about his precious city.

That left Mai and Ty Lee, as well as the resistance.

~

Mai and Ty Lee were treated in much the same way as the previous loop, except Azula hinted at treason far more openly to see how they would react.

It was almost a month into the loop when she flat out said, "I think Father is losing Agni's vision."

"Azula," Mai said sharply, tightly grasping her wrist. "You are speaking treason." She paused before releasing her, quietly saying, "You are free to think whatever you think is right, and we'll remain loyal to you, but you need to be careful. Just because you're meant to have the throne doesn't mean that you're invincible."

Ty Lee wrung her hands, nervously bouncing up and down on her heels. "If . . . if that's what you really think, then we need to make sure you're gaining more allies - like in the court and in the people in general. You're going to get the throne, but if you speak out against your father . . ."

Azula was the oddest mixture of touched and furious beyond all measure.

They were outright speaking treason, practically planning a coup of the Fire Nation and Agni's currently selected ruler. Her father had done amazing things with the throne, extending their control farther and farther, and at the end of Sozin's comet, they would rise as the dominating force in the world. The world would flourish under her father's control, and she would assist him from her rightful place on the Fire Nation throne.

To hear her companions openly speak against such a glorious future, free from war and petty disputes between nations since there would only be the Fire Nation was a disgrace. The next thing she knew, she'd find their faces amongst the resistance in the lower ring.

She felt disgusted that she'd allowed these traitors to be her closest confidents for so many years.

Something niggled in the back of her mind, though, and it was quietly pointing out that they thought they were doing it for Azula.

~

Clearly being a message runner was doomed to fail, and besides she'd already read all the messages that would be sent, barring major alterations by her actions.

Instead, she focussed on trying to understand why people were joining the resistance. Couldn't they see that their lives would be so much easier if they just submitted?

She focussed on the group of girls she'd met before, and when Fora asked if she wanted to help the resistance, she said (not pretending to be nearly as meek this time), "I really don't think I can. I'm an awful secret keeper, so I don't want to get too close to it, you know? Plausible deniability and all that."

Fora looked at her long and hard, but she nodded. "I can respect that."

"Even though I can't be an active part of the rebellion - for right now at least," Azula said with an openly curious expression, "can I ask what made you three join up?"

The trio of girls exchanged looks, but they seemed to find no issue with the question, because Fora responded, voice already sad, "I used to live on the coast with my family. We didn't make a great living, but it was a living anyway. We were really happy for a while." Her voice went hard. "But then the Fire Nation started porting in our village more, and the Fire Nation did what they do best: they took and took without care for the harm they were doing, and they were attacking innocent people and facing no repercussions. We were all terrified. The only time someone tried to get help, to get one of the soldiers in trouble for what they'd done . . . well, he never came back, and people stopped trying after that." Fora had the kind of angry determination Azula had seen amongst some of the Fire Nation generals. "The Fire Nation is a stain upon this world, and they'll never stop until they consume everything, leaving nothing but ashes behind. I'll do anything it takes to stop them."

"That's . . ." Azula said, blinking. "That's awful. They really must be stopped."

Shi, the girl with red toned hair, was next. She was much quieter. "My father was an earth bender and was one of the protectors of my village. We never had any kind of relationship with the Fire Nation like Fora's village did. One day, we woke up and we went outside to see ash raining from the sky. Apparently, they'd heard a rumor that there was a resistance in our town which was ridiculous because most of our village was very old or very young. Our few fighting age residents were focussed on keeping us all alive, not trying to take down an entire nation." She seemed a hundred years old in that moment. "I was young, and my father knew we had no fighting chance before the first fire bender even stepped into the village. He hid me in our barn with enough supplies to last, and I stayed there for two days and two nights. I heard -" Her voice cut off, and she changed gears. "Anyway, I managed to get away, and if they wiped out an almost defenseless village on the chance that there was a resistance, then I'll damn well be that resistance. And when we win, I'll be at peace knowing I avenged my father and every last man, woman, and child the Fire Nation has killed."

Azula made a sympathetic noise, while her thoughts whirred. Before she could figure out where her thoughts were leading her, Mekan started her own tale.

"I also grew up in the colonies," the dark haired girl said, glancing up at her golden eyes in grim camaraderie. "But it wasn't by choice. My mother was a sailor for the Earth Kingdom army, merely transporting supplies, and her ship was captured by the Fire Nation. I don't care what propaganda goes around about the treatment of Fire Nation prisoners, but my mother's ship surrendered, but instead of being treated honorably like they all like to preach about - anyway, I was born nine months later, and my mother didn't have enough money to get us off those islands. My own life wasn't quite as bad as Fora and Shi's, but I'm the exact result of how Fire Nation soldiers like to treat people who surrender, and I refuse to let the rest of the world be subjected to that."

Azula felt slightly nauseous, a strange feeling considering these were just peasants whining about their hardships. Something was off about their stories, clearly twisted by someone who wanted to make villains of the Fire Nation. In each instance, it painted the Fire Nation soldiers as hurting the defenseless. While no mercy was shown to those who resisted the future prosperity of Fire Nation rule, needless cruelty took up time and resources that were better used to spread power, leading up to a Golden Age led by Agni's chosen.

Clearly, the propaganda against her nation was worse than she'd initially realized.

"I've met plenty of kind soldiers who seem to only want to follow the Fire Lord," she noted.

All three of the girls narrowed their eyes at her, and Fora said, "Be careful what you say around here. You won't find much sympathy for the Fire Nation here."

Azula knew she was pressing her luck, but she said, "Surely a few cases of poor behavior isn't enough to condemn an entire nation. They do say Agni himself leads the royal family to make their decisions."

Mekan spat on the ground. "You know as well as I do, being from the colonies, that it's far more than a few cases. Start asking around, and you'll find that nearly every refugee in this city has another tale about how evil the Fire Nation is."

The girls seemed to want nothing to do with her after that, and Azula was fine with that.

She felt deeply unsettled, but she couldn't quite identify why. It must be because it would be significantly harder for Agni's will to be executed if the world believed the Fire Nation to be monstrous. Chances were high that pieces of the girl's stories were true, as there would always be a few bad eggs. The chances of a significant amount of Fire Nation soldiers being in the wrong was near nonexistent, especially when they were led directly by Agni, through the chain of command. No, people who jeopardized the vision would be swiftly punished, not left to run amok. Clearly the fault here lay in the assumptions and rumor spreading of simpletons.

After openly speaking in defense of the Fire Nation, she honestly wasn't even surprised when she was once again murdered by the resistance.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

"I need to go back home before these peasants start brainwashing me against Agni," she muttered to herself.


	9. Chapter 9

Okay, Azula thought. New plan.

She wanted to go home, and now she knew she could at least get out of Ba Sing Se which meant that it was promising that she could eventually learn every single obstacle standing between her and home and best them. And if she wanted her efforts there to be realistic, then she'd have to first deal with Iroh and Zuko since she'd need to do that eventually. In turn, that meant that she would have to figure out how to kill them both without being killed, then how to travel essentially across the world without being killed.

She felt a headache coming on just at the thought.

~

Mai had killed Iroh, and Azula had personally taken down dear Zuzu.

It was also Mai that killed Azula.

The traitor.

~

This time, Azula personally killed Iroh while he was stuck in the crystals. Zuko, in his complete fury, managed to actually hurt her.

She still put him down in the end, but her injuries made her susceptible to future attacks.

Ty Lee chi-blocked her with the intention of imprisonment, and it was a Dai Li agent who killed her.

~

Azula spent about a couple of dozen loops poking at different threads, trying to figure out the best way to eliminate her stupid brother and uncle.

Each time, she would die as a direct consequence no matter how quickly she killed them.

Very annoying.

Perhaps it was time to try something less direct?

~

Azula smirked as she made her way out of Ba Sing Se.

Azanu was now in control of the city, and due to an unknown motive, the resistance had poisoned all the water used by an upper class tea shop.

It was especially tragic that it was a slow acting poison that was undetectable until hours later when it was simply too late to be saved.

And well, if there was nothing to return home, then surely her job was done here. Clearly, Agni himself had stepped in to handle the threat to the throne - or at least that's what she would be telling her father.

Now, she just had to figure out how to actually get to the Fire Nation . . .

~

She went without Mai and Ty Lee, deciding they would probably slow her down.

She completely avoided the boat, instead continuing the disguise as a refugee as she travelled west, taking advantage of her young age and the soft hearts of some adults.

When she couldn't find people to outright help her, she took what she needed. Some may call it stealing, but could it really be considered stealing when she was taking from the people that would one day be hers? It was an honor to provide their future Fire Lord with supplies, whether they knew it or not. Agni would reward them for their sacrifices, and her reign would one day make them prosper - assuming they did not resist, anyway.

~

Unfortunately Expectedly, it seemed for every mile she progressed, there was at least one new thing to kill her.

She probably spent over four years in the time loop just trying to get to the ocean.

She knew it was unnatural, and she knew that something would have to give. Even the least lucky person in the world wouldn't be so unfortunate. It spoke of something sinister going on, something that she could only guess at the meaning of. She severely doubted it was Agni pushing against her plan, as she was returning to his promised land to continue his will of spreading their fortune. Could there be other forces at work here?

It was extremely frustrating, and if she were a lesser person, she probably would have given up. As it were, she was stubborn, and every new foot towards the Fire Nation tasted of victory, and each time it seemed easier to get that little bit easier.

The real challenge began with the voyage from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire Nation.

It seemed that every single boat she could choose would meet its end at sea. Azula seemed to be a bad luck charm for any vessel she stepped foot on, and she knew it was more than just a turn in her luck. Something was keeping her from reaching home, but she would just have to be more stubborn than it, and she would eventually find a way.

~

There was a small family two days north of where Azula always reached the ocean, and they had been debating trying their luck in the Fire Nation. The soldiers who occasionally came through their village were cruel to them for not completely converting to the Fire Nation, and the soldiers only had positive things to say about the Fire Nation.

They were teetering on a decision, but they had almost enough money saved up to pay their way across the ocean.

Azula had come by them in several of her attempts, but they had never reached a decision in the time they were around - either that or they just hadn't raised the little bit of money. Surely they would realize at some point that the way to keep the Fire Nation soldiers from bothering them was to realize that they were clinging to the familiar and depriving themselves of the glory the Fire Nation was trying to spread. Families like theirs would be ridiculed generations from now, when history talked of the savagery the Fire Nation had saved the world from.

Their one saving grace was that they seemed to actually realize that the Fire Nation was a wonderful nation to live in.

In a fit of boredom one loop, she'd decided to steal the extra money they needed as well as what it would cost to pay her own way, and she presented herself to the family. She didn't tell them a real name, but she did tell them she had been trying to reach her family in the Fire Nation and that she had decided to help them.

Cue annoying tears and "thanks you"s and "how can we ever repay you"s.

She brushed them off, and if it was in more disgust than humility, they didn't notice.

It was that action that allowed her safe passage across the ocean.

The boat they entered was one she had gotten on multiple times, and each time it had crashed or been raided.

This time, with that ridiculous little family on board, Azula was able to finally see her country again after well over a decade spent in the Earth Kingdom.

She spared a thought to the curiosity of that, but she had no true way of knowing whether it was coincidence. Perhaps time would tell.

~

Of course, nothing could be easy or simple for her life, so she died almost immediately after stepping onto the docks in an unfortunate fishing incident.

But now she knew she could get home if she tried hard enough.

~

Rather than wake up on the throne of Ba Sing Se like she always did, she found herself outside of a massive, dead tree. Fog curled over the ground, and something heavy hung in the air. The faint click of movement came from the opening in the tree.

Azula tried to light her hands with comforting blue flame, but her bending wouldn't work.

Heart pounding and knowing she was essentially defenseless without her flame, she called, "Who goes there?"

A deep, throaty laugh echoed.

She worked to keep her breathing calm, even as her legs decided they wanted to quiver. "I said who goes there? I am Princess Azula, Agni's favored, and I demand that you show yourself at once!"

A dark figure rapidly moved out of the tree's opening, so quickly that she almost couldn't see it. She could hear the clicking of dozens of insect legs.

A great centipede curled its massive body around her, and it lowered a head with a human face to regard her. It chuckled darkly. "Do you know who I am, Princess?"

She swallowed, feeling fear curl up her spine, more intense than she'd ever felt. "Should I?"

The face seemed displeased, but it said, "I'm afraid we won't have time for guessing games. Our time already draws short." Before she could respond, it continued, "I am Koh, the stealer of faces, and I - like most here - have been watching you, Princess Azula."

She bit down her terror, and asked, "And why have you been watching me?"

It laughed, the sound echoing over the monochrome terrain, seeming to creep up the tree trunk. "You have a long way to go, little princess. But first . . . I do so like to punish mortals."

It seemed wickedly amused, and she quickly said, "I have done nothing to be punished for, I am acting on Agni's will!."

It seemed to find that particularly amusing, and opened its mouth, likely to say as much, but there was an echoing thud that began from somewhere in the distance.

Koh's mouth curled in distaste. "It would seem our time is up, little princess. But if I'm to be punished for this, it will be for just cause."

With that, the centipede lunged at her, and she found that she suddenly couldn't breath.

She clapped her hands over her face, clawing. She had no face, no eyes, or nose, or mouth.

She couldn't breath!

The last thing she heard was the Face Stealer's throaty laugh.

~

Azula's eyes did not snap open, but her body did jerk on the throne of Ba Sing Se as she clawed where her mouth should have been, desperately trying to breath in a sharp gasp of air.

She failed.

With no eyes to see the world turn dark, she only knew the end was near by the burning in her lungs and the impact of the ground as she tumbled out of the throne.

~

Azula's eyes snapped open, body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

She continued to take panicked, gasping breaths as she felt her face, somehow still there.


	10. Chapter 10

It took at least an hour for Azula to completely process what had just happened. On the bright side, it showed that the spiritual world was absolutely involved in some way. On the very bad side, it also showed that they had the power to actually effect the loops, which in turn made her wonder how much the spirit world was being effected by the time loops.

Azula was loathe to do it, but there was really only one way to check.

~

"So, you're saying you've suddenly become good and want to help us even though last time you saw us, you literally tried to kill General Iroh?" Katara asked skeptically, alone since she'd told the Dai Li to leave Zuko be.

Azula easily clasped her hands behind her back. "Yes."

The water tribe peasant narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "And how do I know you're not going to just use me to get to Aang?"

Azula shrugged. "Short of reading my mind, I'm not sure there's any way to be certain. If it helps, I actually need his help with something, and he couldn't help me if he were dead."

The peasant couldn't argue with that, so she tried from another angle. "And what do you need help with that only the Avatar can help you with?"

"I've been touched by the Spirit World, you could say," Azula answered. "And I need to know if there are lasting effects or if there's been anything . . . strange going on there lately."

The waterbender frowned and a strange look went across her face, but she had no more arguments. She seemed content to closely watch her, with a hand on the water pouch at her belt.

~

"Aang!" the peasant said as the Avatar blasted dramatically in through the wall.

"Katara!" he happily responded before freezing, eyes locking on her before he raised his staff defensively. "Azula?"

"Surprise," she drawled.

Katara cut in. "She apparently wants to help us. And she wants your help."

The Avatar warily looked at her, and she was struck again by how young he looked. Still, with thousands of past lives guiding him, he'd likely have the sort of random wisdom her uncle pulled out of no where.

"It's true, Avatar Aang. I believe we could have a mutually beneficial alliance."

The Avatar hesitated, glancing at Katara who shrugged, then back at Azula. "I really don't know if we can trust you, but we've got to get out of here, so I guess you can come with us and we'll talk once we're out of Ba Sing Se?" He scratched at the back of his bald head.

Azula nodded. "Sounds wonderful. Lead the way, Avatar Aang."

His nose scrunched slightly, and he said, "Just Aang is fine. No need for formality stuff."

Azula raised her eyebrows but nodded.

~

Being on an air bison that was flying through the air was . . . strange. Her only experiences with flying were with the war balloons which were completely reliant on human instruction. The idea of the beast suddenly deciding it was tired of them and forcing them to fall to their deaths was discomforting. The Avatar and his three human companions didn't seem to have any problem with the beast, at least.

"So," the strangely familiar blind girl said. "Anyone wanna explain why the crazy princess is with us?"

Azula suddenly realized where she knew the girl from. She'd killed her in a loop! Her fists discretely clenched, fury sparking inside of her, but she couldn't kill the girl yet. She needed the Avatar's guidance first - then she could do what she wanted with the rest of the time loop.

"She wants to help us!" the Avatar said optimistically.

"And I'm chopped jerky," the water tribe boy muttered.

"And she wants Aang's help with something," the waterbender added.

"That makes more sense," the water tribe boy admitted.

The blind girl huffed. "And what can twinkle toes do to help you, Your Highness?"

It wasn't lost on Azula that the title was said sarcastically, but she bit down on any violent urges. She needed to remain calm if she wanted help.

"I was touched by at least one from the Spirit World. I require assistance knowing to what extent, and I also need to know if the Spirit World has seemed strange in the past - oh, day or so?"

The Avatar flinched, looking sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "Ah - see the thing is, well . . . I kind of haven't mastered the Avatar State?"

Azula felt a twitch start in her right eyelid. Her voice was slightly cold when she said, "The Avatar hasn't mastered the Avatar State?"

The water tribe boy said, "Hey! It's not his fault. He's doing his best!"

The others nodded their heads along, though she noticed the Avatar's seemed slightly hesitant.

Azula took a deep, calming breath in. The breath out was tinged with blue flames. "Is there any way that you can get into contact with the Spirit World?"

"Um," the Avatar said. "I can try meditating? Honestly, it might not be a bad idea to go to the Northern Water Tribe. We won't have time until after the comet, but we can totally take you then! First, I've got to find . . ." He trailed off, then looked at her with sudden intensity. "You're a good firebender."

Azula's eyes narrowed, taking in the information he'd given her, suspicious of the direction he'd suddenly gone. "I'm a prodigy, blessed by Agni with blue fire, the best firebender in generations."

The Avatar lit up. "Wanna be my firebending teacher? We'd be able to go to the Spirit Oasis much quicker that way!"

Azula's temples suddenly throbbed. To teach the Avatar when he intended to overthrow her father or to refuse and not receive his assistance with the Spirit World.

Well, it's not like he would remember any of it anyway . . .

Plus, she had been intending to improve her own fire bending, anyway. Chances were one of the Avatars knew tricks she didn't. This would actually be a great way to mine the knowledge of generations of fire benders.

~

"What will you teach me first, Sifu Hotwoman?"

She wondered if it were too soon to brutally murder him. "What did you just call me?"

"Sifu Hotwoman!" the Avatar cheerfully said, before frowning. "Is that not still slang in the Fire Nation."

"No," she said, a touch cold.

"Oh well," he said, flipping around his staff happily. "I'll still call you Sifu Hotwoman. Who knows, maybe I'll bring it back?"

She would murder him before he got that far whenever the time loop was over.

"Great," she said, slightly between her teeth. "The first step to fire bending is breathing with candles. In order to master the element, you must become one with it, until the flame is an extension of your very being. Only once you have embraced the flame will you be able to truly master it."

"Ooh, I'm great at breathing! And we've got some candles somewhere . . ."

It suddenly struck Azula as he cheerfully dug through their packs that the most powerful person in the world (besides her father, of course) was an actual child.

How in Agni's name had he managed to evade Zuzu for so long?

When he dramatically presented a handful of candles to her, she hoped her smile wasn't as pained as it felt.

Her one solace was that she had read before that bending was muscle memory that the Avatar spirit would have access to in each life. Avatar Aang would catch on the the bending rapidly, and perhaps even offer her a viable sparring partner and an advantage against him in future loops.

~

One week later and Azula decided it was really in the best interests of the Fire Nation to put Zuko down as quickly as possible before he was able to reproduce. How had he constantly been beaten by these children?

Never mind the fact that Azula wasn't even the oldest in their group, they all acted younger than she had at six. When she was the Avatar's age, she had already turned her fire blue and beaten every one of her master's undefeated, having long since moved on to taking down groups of firebending masters.

He also didn't much like her training techniques.

She punched blue flame at him, and he narrowly dodged it by launching himself into the air with his air bending.

"Stop using other bendings," she barked.

"Then stop trying to kill me!" he exclaimed.

"If I wanted to kill you," she said coldly, "you'd be dead."

He tilted his head at her thoughtfully for a long second, and the blind girl said, "She at least thinks she's telling the truth."

"Huh," said the Avatar. "Well, thanks for not trying to kill me, I guess? But isn't there a better way for me to learn?"

"You'll learn," Azula said, "by actually using firebending."

She kicked blue flames at his, and he darted to the side, not once firebending.

She narrowed her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "I have taught you five basic katas, why are you not using them?"

The Avatar sulked and whined, "Sifu Hotwoman, this isn't how I learn."

She couldn't murder the Avatar yet, she couldn't murder the Avatar yet, she couldn't murder the Avatar yet.

She took a deep breath, exhaling flames.

"I will not hold your hand, Avatar. What I am teaching you is easy and should be instinctual. I've seen you succeed with the candles, so I know you have the capability of doing this without accessing the Avatar State. If you think I am hard on you, wait until you meet my father in the field of battle. If you hope to survive, you will learn how I want you to learn."

The Avatar sulked.

He was a child!

Azula despaired. She would never learn anything about the Spirit World at this rate.


	11. Chapter 11

The Avatar was still struggling with Fire Bending. He did the katas perfectly, and could produce fire. It was always small flames, though, and he never seemed to able to produce them in a spar. It was driving Azula crazy. She was relatively sure she'd produced bigger flames within a week of her bending appearing.

The Avatar's muscle memory from previous lives should have long since showed itself. By this point in time, he should at least be as capable as Zuko, the incompetent idiot. While she doubted muscle memory would be enough to bring him close to her level of skill, he should be occasionally showing her things that have been forgotten to time, making their temporary partnership worthwhile for her.

Instead, it was a complete waste of her time.

The comet was rapidly approaching, and she'd been declared a traitor to the Fire Nation. While untrue and laughable, she was amused to note the large bounty her arrest called for. Although no damage done to him would be permanent, she did worry for her father who now thought he had two useless children. She wondered what he was planning to do for the throne procession now. Agni would surely show him a way to ease him, while allowing her time to finish her mission.

She had the Avatar run through another kata set, but now she was sending flames at him so that he could redirect the fire. She was even being nice, and making the flames small and easily controllable. To think that she was having to baby the Avatar. It made her lip curl in disgust.

He blocked the fire with air, water, and earth. Never once did he redirect one of her flames.

"Avatar - Aang," she corrected herself. "You have to stop dodging. You need to master this. I know you can do the katas, so why are you not using them?!"

The Avatar looked upset, and he said, "Are you even trying to help me learn to beat the Fire Lord, or do you just want me to learn so that I can take you to the Spirit Oasis?"

Azula kept her face carefully neutral. "Obviously I want you to defeat my father, otherwise I wouldn't be here. But I've made it no secret that I'm concerned about what the Spirit World could have done to me, and I want answers that I apparently need to go to the North Pole for."

"The Northern Water Tribe hates fire benders and won't want you two practicing there, Spooky," Toph said, that damned nickname she'd coined after the third time Azula had mentioned the spirit world. "Avatar or not, they're gonna want him to save the world before he comes back. Last time he was there, they kinda lost their Princess, you know?"

At that, the Avatar looked even more upset. The Water Tribe boy looked sad, gazing towards the horizon, overly dramatic like always.

"Azula," the water bender said, "Why don't you come help me look for berries, and let Aang practice earth bending with Toph for a while?"

Azula wanted to argue, remembering her own days of training in the beginning where she would train from sunrise to sunset every day, but the girl had never tried to get her alone before. She was intrigued, which was the only reason why she agreed.

As she'd suspected, the girl was silent until they were well out of hearing distance from the other before she whipped around, looking so scolding that Azula had to bite down a laugh.

"You're being too hard on him," Katara said, visibly bristling. "He's trying his best."

"He's one of the worst fire benders I've ever experienced, and most fire benders start learning before they can even read," she coldly reminded. "He is the Avatar and it is his destiny to master all four elements as each of his previous lives did. He is not trying, or else he'd be more powerful than most fire benders by now."

"He's a great bender," she said, conviction strong. "He's just scared."

Azula raised one eyebrow.

The peasant seemed hesitant about something before she quietly admitted, "He caught on a little too quick with his first fire bending teacher. He got too confident too quickly, and he burned me. Air benders are pacifists, so it really freaked him out."

Azula got a few things from that, and she incredulously snapped, "He was careless enough to burn you? Also what exactly does he think is going to happen when he faces my father in battle? That they'll sing a happy song, make friendship bracelets, and skip off into a flower-filled meadow afterwards?" Her voice chilled. "My father will be aiming to kill, and he is the best fire bender in the world. The comet will only strengthen that. If the Avatar goes into there scared of a fight, then he is going to die."

The peasant's lip wobbled, barely noticeable but there. "I know that! He knows that on some level, and he still has time to get ready. I think he wants to try to find a way to just beat him, not kill him."

Azula shook her head in disbelief. Knowing that her time with the group was growing short, she didn't bother to hold her tongue, instead darkly saying, "I should have taken my chances sneaking into the North Pole by myself. At this rate, my father won't have to try to defeat the Avatar, and I've done nothing but waste my time trying to train someone who doesn't want to learn."

Katara straightened up as if she'd been electrocuted, fury clear in her features. "Is that all you ever think about? Helping Aang restore balance is the number one priority right now, and that can wait until after the comet! Have you ever thought about how you've been with us for over a month and you're fine?! Clearly whatever it is you're so worried about isn't even an issue!"

Blue flames curled around Azula's fingers, and the temptation to simply kill the girl was there. It would destroy the work she'd done this loop, however, and she would never join the Avatar's group again if she could help it. That meant she needed a little more information before she could depart and wait for the next loop to start.

With that in mind, she whirled on her heel and stormed back to the main camp area, blue flames still crackling around her hands.

~

The next morning over breakfast, she started asking questions to the Avatar, securing all the information she would need.

"How is the Northern Water Tribe organized?"

"Where is the Spirit Oasis exactly?"

"Would they let me in without you?" (The answer was a probable no.)

"So when you say they hate fire benders, how much exactly?"

"How do people enter the city?"

Everyone was regarding her suspiciously even as answers were given, but she shrugged. "I like knowing things. Clearly, they wouldn't let me in without you guys, so I can't go yet, but it can give me an idea of what it'll be like."

She knew her death was probably near since it seemed like she died every five feet once she left the city. Joining Team Avatar had lessened the near deaths tremendously, but they were still there. She just had to do a worse job of avoiding them.

Truthfully, she now wondered how many spirits were involved in her deaths. Was it just one spirit following her, constantly trying to brutally kill her? Perhaps it was one of those Water Tribe spirits trying to undermine Agni, since she still believed he had put her into the time loop to help her become the greatest Fire Lord to ever exist. The water and moon spirits were the opposite of the sun spirit, after all.

Azula thought it said a lot that it took two spirits to balance the sheer power of Agni.

She'd heard rumors after Zhao's invasion that Tui and La had physical forms at the Northern Water Tribe, and she wondered if they could be at the Spirit Oasis itself. It would make more sense as to why the Water Tribe was so protective of it, and why Team Avatar had seemed hesitant to answer the questions she was asking.

She hadn't done much to earn their trust, so it would make sense for them to want to keep an eye on her.

A smirk curled on her lips.

Too bad they wouldn't ever remember giving her the information.


	12. Chapter 12

Azula supposed she shouldn't be surprised that it took her entirely too many loops to safely find a ship to take her to the Northern Water Tribe. While no less frustrating than ever, it did seem to be her lot in life to have to put an unreasonable amount of time into travel. At this rate, she'd know about every single threat to her person in the entire Earth Kingdom by the time the loop ended.

Approximately thirty loops after the first time she'd left Ba Sing Se with the intent of infiltrating the Spirit Oasis, she found a family who were willing to part with their boat in return for thrice the amount of gold it was worth. While far from ideal, it was the first deal she'd brokered that seemed to actually work, as she was already sailing towards the frigid North Pole.

It was also the first time she'd managed to hire a group of sailors that didn't seem to despise her at first glance.

"Whatcha doin', tryna go up there anyway? Heard those frigid water benders don't take too kindly to outsiders," one sailor commented, in the middle of soaking the wood of the boat. It was yet another outdated and exhausting piece of maintenance that would be unnecessary on a Fire Nation vessel.

She was amused that it had taken this long for them to question her, but she'd long since decided on a cover that would likely keep her from being brutally murdered by the savages the second they saw her tell-tale golden eyes and pale skin.

"I am part of the Avatar's group, and he has sent me on a mission to the Northern Water Tribe," she easily answered.

The sailors all paused as one, turning to look incredulously at her. One muttered, "I ain't heard of no Fire Nation lookin' girl joining the Avatar."

She rolled her eyes. "Because we've been keeping it under wraps. The crazy Fire Lord will only be more concerned if he knows that not all Fire Nation citizens believe in his vision."

The original sailor said, "But ain't there a water tribe girl in the group? Why'd they not send her?"

She had an answer for that too. "Master Katara is integral to the Avatar's current plans, and needs to remain close to him. She is also functioning as his effective second in command. I'm farther down in the hierarchy since I'm newer and my roles are more flexible. Besides, it was seen as symbolic that I was sent to help make reparations since it was my country that hurt the tribe the most."

The sailors mulled over that in contemplative silence.

She turned her molten gold eyes north, letting nothing of her true intentions show on her face.

~

As their small boat approached the ice wall blocking off the city, citizens fled deeper into the city, and water bending guards and archers made themselves known, clearly hoping that the show of strength would be enough to make them turn around.

The sailors shifted nervously, but listened to her commands to continue slowly forward.

Once they were close to the entrance to the city, the boat was caught in an unnatural current, keeping them from progressing any further. Ten water benders raised themselves with their element, easily being swept onto their boat, all standing on the defense. They were deferring the an older man amongst them with harsh features who was looking at her Fire Nation features in disgust.

"We want nothing to do with your kind here, Ash Bender. Why have you come?" the man demanded.

She tilted her chin up. "I am Muzai of the Fire Nation, the newest member of Avatar Aang's group in pursuit of balance and the usurping of the Fire Lord Ozai. I was sent by the Avatar to make contact with the Northern Water Tribe in preparation for Sozin's Comet."

The leader continued to stare her down without his expression changing, but the other water benders exchanged troubled looks.

At a gesture from the leader, Azula found her hands and feet engulfed in icy chains, and she bit down on her fury to send a quizzical glance at the leader.

"You'll excuse us if we take precautions against you after what happened the last time your kind arrived here," the man said coldly. "Nevertheless, the Chief will be interested in hearing what you have to say."

And with that, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation was led into the Northern Water Tribe.

~

What Azula assumed were all of the tribe elders awaited her in a room reminiscent of the Fire Nation's council room. She was led onto the lower dias so that she was forced to look up to the water tribe savages.

The man who could only be Chief Arnook looked at her with barely concealed fury. "What is the meaning of this, Master Pakku? Why have you allowed someone from the Fire Nation into our walls?"

The old man beside her bowed respectfully to his Chief and answered, "This is Muzai. She claims to be a member of Avatar Aang's group, here on his command."

The Chief looked at her longer this time, disgust still visible but overshadowed now by curiosity. "And why would Avatar Aang send someone from the Fire Nation when he knows of the atrocities committed by your people onto ours?"

Azula made a proper Fire Nation bow, mouth tasting of ash at the gesture she'd only given her father in the past. "It is precisely because of that, esteemed Chief Arnook. Avatar Aang seeks to bring balance back to the world. Because my country is disturbing the balance, he thought it best to send me as a reminder that while my people are in the wrong, it is an important component of balance that we eventually will all work together, four nations in harmony."

Arnook looked troubled. "In the middle of a war of your country's making?"

"With all due respect, Chief Arnook, Avatar Aang believes that the stronger the foundation that is built before he succeeds in defeating the Fire Lord, the better chances there are for balance to restore itself in a timely manner. He in turn believes that cooperation will become easier if your people have experience with a Fire Nation citizen who seeks only peace, while my people will benefit from having a member who is familiar with your customs and is able to aid the transition in thinking from hostility to peace."

The Water Tribe members seemed troubled by her words. One of the elders asked, "And why could the Avatar himself not escort you here to tell us this himself?"

She looked as sincere as possible as she replied, "As I'm sure you have guessed, the Avatar has had to learn a lot in the time since he was awoken from the ice. Given less than a year to master three more elements, he is having to devote a majority of his time to learning enough to be able to single-handedly defeat the Fire Lord Ozai. In light of this, he is having to give myself and other trusted members of his group jobs to do on his behalf."

"So, what?" another elder scoffed. "He sent a little girl to try to play nice, as if that were enough to bring back everything we've lost?"

Azula felt fury bubble forth in her, but she didn't want to suffer this humiliation again, so she bit back her anger.

"How are we to even know that she speaks the truth?" said another. "Why would the Avatar not send ahead communication?"

Azula spoke up. "Mail is a great risk, since it can be intercepted and read for the gain of the Fire Nation. It was decided that it wasn't worth the chances of it falling into the wrong hands."

Discontent muttering sounded around the room, and Azula wondered if she would be meeting a death sentence. It would be inconvenient, but after being inside the walls of the city, she now had some tentative ideas for how to get inside without being caught.

Pakku silenced the quiet mutterings with a question of his own. "If the girl claims to be a friend of the Avatar, then she should know things about him that outsiders wouldn't, yes? And he wouldn't be friendly with a Fire Nation citizen unless they were truly on his side."

Everyone seemed contemplative at that, staring at her closely.

Pakku turned to her and snapped, "Well, on with it, girl. What are some things that only a friend of the Avatar would truly know?"

Azula silently thanked Agni that she had spent the last loop with the "Team Avatar." She nodded to the water bender, and said, "Avatar Aang is young in years, and is remarkably carefree considering the circumstances surrounding his survival. When he emerged from the ice, he quickly befriended Katara and Sokka of the warrior tribe. Katara now functions essentially as the healer, caretaker, and one of the fiercest warriors of the group, as well as functioning as Aang's water bender master. Sokka is the strategic head of the group, and also functions as comedic relief. He is entirely too consumed in his constant quest for food. The Avatar himself is a pacifist, but is dedicated to bringing balance to the world." The council seemed less hostile, but still seemed to be waiting for something less well known. She thought for a long moment, then drawled, "He is also extremely unimpressed by sea prunes."

At that, one of the elders barked out a laugh, and thoughtfully said, "She does seem to know the Avatar quite well, indeed."

Chief Arnook looked at her for a long time, clearly trying to read if she had any ulterior methods, but finally said, "Very well. We shall have a room drawn up for the Avatar's companion." He gave her another long look and said, "You've clearly had a long journey, so rest, and tomorrow we can speak on what exactly the Avatar wants you to do here."

As much as Azula wanted to smirk, it could ruin her cover, so she politely bowed her head, expression carefully pleasant.

She was in.

~

She was quite tired after the journey north, so she carefully searched the room before locking the door and going to sleep, even though it was quite early. She would need her energy to pull off her tasks.

The next morning she arose with the sun. She'd been given no orders to stay within her room, so she exited, nodding politely the two soldiers stationed in the hallway. Their eyes tracked her as she left, but they made no move to stop her progress.

She spent some time mapping the hallways as she searched for exits, eventually finding herself near the main moat of the city, walking along it.

She stood out like a sore thumb, her Fire Nation features and Earth Nation clothing at stark contrast to the whites and blues of the city and its people. She had found a thick fur-lined jacket in her room, so she'd donned it. She felt exactly like the imposter she was with the Water Nation jacket hardly covering the fact that she did not belong amongst this city of peasants.

She passed by some water benders in the middle of instruction, bending the waters of a canal. They watched her as she went, but she didn't stick around for long enough for any to approach her.

She had mapped a significant portion of the city under the guise of sight seeing when a small, cold hand caught her own. She startled and looked down to see a child with brilliant blue eyes looked up at her. Behind the boy, there was a small group of other children.

The boy grinned up at her, teeth crooked. "Papa says that you are a friend of the Avatar."

Azula did not miss the attentive looks on her from nearby adults, keeping a careful eye on the children. She took the presented opportunity and lowered herself the the boys level, not removing her hand from his own filthy one.

"I am," she answered, smiling, the expression still feeling foreign on her face, even after all these loops. "And who might you be?"

The boy puffed up his chest. "I am Altuk, and I will be one of the mightiest warriors of the Northern Water Tribe so that I can one day help the Avatar destroy the evil Fire Nation!"

It truly was sickening the way these savages brainwashed their children.

She nodded sagely. "A worthwhile cause, helping the Avatar." She lowered her voice conspiratorially, but made sure it was still loud enough for the adults to just hear. "Want to know a secret?" At the boy's and the other children's eager nods, she continued, "The Avatar can always use help, especially from people like you. So I want to spread a piece of advice he imparted onto me: the world is meant to be at balance, four nations and four elements equalling each other out. The Avatar himself is destined to be a master fire bender, just like he is of the other three elements." The children looked doubtful. "This means that in an ideal world, the Fire Nation won't be destroyed, merely join the balance. As the Avatar says, the Fire Nation isn't evil, merely led astray."

The boy frowned solemnly, seeming to listen to her words. He stared into her eyes and asked with the bluntness of a child, "Are you from the Fire Nation, Miss?"

Azula looked right back at the child, knowing he would one day be part of her subjects if his people didn't convince him to fight and die for a false cause.

"I am indeed from the Fire Nation," she said, and he gulped but didn't back away. "It is my understanding that my people have taken much from you, but it is my job as a friend of the Avatar to help restore the balance and strengthen your people."

The boy nodded again, appearing to consider her words. He then announced, "Well, if the Avatar says you're his friend, that means you're my friend too!"

The other children took that as their cue to surround her and tug curiously on her Earth Kingdom clothes, and compliment her golden eyes.

She felt nothing but disgust by their actions, but she noticed the small smiles some of the adults who'd been listening had, and she knew she'd done the correct thing.

One little girl said, "Want to make a snowman with us?"

"A snowman?" Azula repeated, puzzled at the word.

The children's eyes lit up, and she wondered what form of punishment she'd just signed herself up for.

~

It was hours later, her clothes soaked in snow and icy water, when Chief Arnook approached.

The children perked up the see their leader, and he greeted each by name before sending them along to their caretakers.

The children whined slightly, but left with cheerful goodbyes to Azula, who could die peacefully if she never saw any of the little monsters again.

"Walk with me, Muzai?" the Chief said.

Azula nodded once and stood, clasping her hands tightly behind herself in an attempt to conceal the trembling on her body at the intense cold of this wretched land.

They walked in silence for some time, breath fogging in front of them, before the chief said, "There is something to be said for the extraordinary adaptability children possess, and even it holds no candle to their compassion."

She nodded, though she begged to differ. Children were greedy and thoughtless, selfish and incapable of understanding bigger pictures. It wouldn't do to argue with the person who'd allowed her within their territory, however. She responded, "Children truly are remarkable."

Chief Arnook slowed to a stop and looked towards the horizon. "The gift of a child is one of the most valuable gifts one can receive. They are the future, and the greatest accomplishment many people have." Sorrow etched his face. "They are also the fiercest loss one can suffer." He turned to face her. "Tell me, Muzai, did the Avatar tell you of everything that happened the last time he was here?"

Azula sensed she was on dangerous ground, so she slowly replied, "He told me of the attack on the city and the losses suffered. He also told me that it was due to Princess Yue's sacrifices that the Fire Nation's navy was able to be defeated."

Arnook closed his eyes for one moment, then opened then with a deep breath. "Yes, my daughter sacrificed everything for her people. She was never meant to live, and it was the generosity of the moon spirit who breathed life into her. And just as she was never meant to live, the moon spirit was never meant to survive the attack Zhao made on her. But my daughter took the kindness offered to her by the moon spirit and gave that life back in order to restore balance."

"That was very kind of her," Azula offered.

Arnook smiled sadly and said, "Yes, my daughter was nothing if not kind. It is with her spirit and the knowledge of what she would do if she were here in mind that I offer you a full hand of friendship, Muzai. My daughter lost her life in the pursuit of peace and balance, and she would be overjoyed to see a Fire Nation citizen wanting to help make that hope a truth. With that said, I'd like to make myself available to help with whatever mission the Avatar has given you to complete here."

Azula blinked. Surely this must be a trap, for it was entirely too easy. She wasn't going to doubt the good luck Agni had blessed her with, however.

She smiled at the chief. "I thank you for your hospitality and assistance, Chief Arnook. I'm sure the Avatar will be pleased to hear of your dedication in restoring balance to the world."


	13. Chapter 13

Perhaps being an actual member of Team Avatar was frustrating, infuriating, and a waste of time. Pretending to be a member, on the other hand, seemed full of infinite possibilities.

She was being treated with a surprising amount of respect considering she was from the Fire Nation, and Chief Arnook seemed rather fond of her. She'd absolutely be taking advantage of that, but for now she needed to tread carefully, lest they suspect her intentions. Chief Arnook had departed quickly after their conversation the day before with a promise to find her when he had a moment to discuss exactly how he could assist her.

As for now, her door had been knocked on that morning. She'd already been awake for hours, practicing katas and plotting, so she made her way to the door to see who it was, hoping it was the Chief so that she could hurry up with her plans.

Instead of the Chief, it was a girl who must have been her age with bright blue eyes, her arms full of clothing.

A servant, then.

Azula stepped aside to allow the girl entry.

"Good morning!" the servant chirped. "I'm Kyose, and Uncle Arnook asked me to bring some of my extra things over for you and to help you get settled in. It really is a pleasure to meet one of the Avatar's companions and to see someone from the Fire Nation want peace as much as us!" the excited girl exclaimed breathlessly.

Not a servant, then, Azula realized, forcing herself to not grimace. Just a high born peasant performing a servant's duties. Could this frigid country get any more backwards?

Kyose was sitting out several outfits, all of them majorly blue. Azula did have to admit that the fur lining each piece was extremely tempting, especially since her blue flames were entirely too conspicuous to raise the temperature of herself or even the room. Her eyes landed on the most appealing piece, a heavy dress that was white lined in blue, the inverse of every other item.

The girl noticed where she was looking and beamed. "I thought you might like that one! I made it for the winter solstice, but haven't worn it since because it's less traditional. No one here owns anything red, as I'm sure you noticed, but this is a neutral as I could find on short notice. It should keep you warm, though, and let you fit in a little more!"

Azula's fingers drifted over the soft fur. She supposed there were worse things than changing Earth Kingdom green for a mostly white ensemble. The pants Kyose had placed with the dress were deep blue lined in white, as were the shoes she'd been offered, but it would have to do.

~

Kyose had finally left her alone after forcing her to try nearly every food the Northern Water Tribe had to offer - all bland, slimy, and gag-worthy. The only things that weren't immediately repulsive were seal jerky and a seaweed wrap, which Azula made sure to eat her fill of.

By this point, Azula had most of the city's layout memorized. She still wasn't sure about the whereabouts of the Spirit Oasis, but she strongly suspected that it resided towards the inner city where she could just hear a waterfall if she strained her ears.

From there, she'd gone to actually observe the Water Benders train, since it would be priceless information to know what kata was being performed on a battle field without having to wait and see what happened. Far be if for her to ignore a perfect opportunity to increase her response time and overall abilities.

A few of the men - and there were only men, she noticed in slight suspicion - looked at her warily, but nothing was said to her as they continued their katas under the instruction of Master Pakku.  
The master noticed her almost immediately and barked out a series of orders to the men before making his way over to her, lowering himself to sit beside her.

"Water bending is nothing like fire bending," he noted. Many old men felt the need to randomly lecture the people around them, and she knew this was exactly that. "Fire bending is vicious. It takes what it wants and leaves nothing remaining, swathing destruction in its path if the wielder is not careful. Water bending, on the other hand, is a push and pull, carefully balancing with nature. Water gives life, and without it, all life would be lost."

She glanced at him, wondering what his angle was, before returning her golden gaze to the warriors. "I respectfully beg to differ. Water may be a necessity for life, but it is capable of just as much destruction as fire. And just as water can save a life, so can fire, especially if trapped without shelter in a land too cold for the human body to sustain itself. Fire cooks food, wards away predators, and is present all around us. Fire benders do require a lot of control, but the fire is not a separate entity or something we struggle to control. It is a part of us, as surely as the breath in our lungs or the blood in our veins. It could also be considered a push and pull, a balancing act of our will versus nature."

There, that was as good as she could do without revealing the fact that fire was inherently superior, binding its wielders ever closer to Agni. Without Agni, there would be no sun. Without sun, countries couldn't sustain themselves, especially considering food. Add in the insanity she had heard was sparked in some prisoners without ample sunlight . . .

Pakku had turned his head more fully to look at her while she'd been talking, and he had an intelligent gleam in his eyes. "So you are a fire bender, then."

It was not a question.

She inclined her head, eyes leaving the benders to meet his gaze. "I never claimed to be anything else."

He snorted. "Indeed you did not. But it does bear the question of why you are here instead of functioning as the Avatar's fire bending master."

Azula hated what she would have to do to survive this intact, but her fire was too distinctive to risk. Not for the first time, she swallowed back hatred and silently thanked Agni that she would be the only person to remember this disaster. She turned her eyes back towards the benders, sighing. "Unfortunately, my fire is weaker than most, and I am far from a master. Avatar Aang is destined to have another master, just as I was destined to come here."

She didn't like the look on the man's face one bit, and she especially didn't like that there were no female warriors in this training session, a fact that she was focussing on more and more as time went on. She'd heard rumors that the backward savages thought women were toys for men's disposal, and she hadn't seen much evidence to the contrary. It would simply be another reason for her to bring the nation to the ground before rising it back up into the glory of the Fire Nation, her flames cleansing the land.

He finally turned away from her, focussing his own attention back on his students. "Perhaps you could benefit from watching water bending. You never know what you could learn."

Perhaps it was the challenging undertone of his voice, or the fact that the bright blue arctic waters vaguely resembled her own blue flames, but the most competitive part of her focussed with more intensity than normal on the basic water whip that the group was going through. It was easy to imagine that the water was blue flame, burning bright over the blinding white snow. An image flashed through her mind of the sheer irony of a Fire Bender defeating a Water Bender using their own katas. It was too bad that katas didn't extend beyond an element.

She was deeply contemplative as she took her leave.

~

Kyose returned to tell her that Chief Pakku was extending her an invitation to dinner.

Azula thanked the peasant and closed her door, finally allowing herself to smirk wickedly, the fruit of her labor already closer than she'd anticipated.

It was nearly time.

~

Despite what she'd imagined, she wasn't dining alone with Chief Arnook. Instead, a majority of the elders and their families were in attendance. She was sitting to the left of Chief Pakku, which must have been the seat for a guest of honor. To his right was Pakku and an elderly woman who seemed to have quite the fierce tongue, if the affectionate argument the two were locked in was any indication.

Like other meals, it was comprised of meat, meat, and more meat with seaweed the only green things in site. It made her miss the sweet fruits and spicy vegetable and meat dishes of the Fire Nation more than ever.

"Have you been enjoying your stay, Muzai?" the Chief suddenly asked, and she forgot that was her assumed name for a split second.

"Your hospitality has been exemplary, Chief Arnook," she assured him. "I am glad to see the Avatar has such gracious allies, and I thank you for allowing me to witness your great nation."

Arnook inclined his head in recognition, before telling her, "Tomorrow, I will have a majority of the day free, and I would like to help you with your tasks at that time. Will there be any supplies that you need?"

She smiled. "No, Chief Arnook. I think I have everything I need."

Dinner passed by uneventfully, filled with small talk. Many were curious to ask questions about her life growing up in the Fire Nation and about how the Avatar was doing. She had to highly edit details for both answers, but they seemed to believe every word out of her mouth.

The elderly woman beside Pakku cornered her after dinner.

"And how are my grandchildren, Katara and Sokka?" the old woman asked.

Azula felt her eyes widen. "I was under the impression that they were both from the Southern water tribe?"

The old woman laughed. "You'd be absolutely correct, my dear. I am only up here temporarily, as my husband Pakku had to return to discuss matters with Chief Pakku."

It was extremely interesting that someone who was clearly very respected in the North was living in the South. Was it possible that he originated from the North? The Avatar's water tribe peasants had never mentioned a grandfather in any of their stories, although their "gran gran" had come up several times.

"I see," Azula responded. "They were both well the last time I saw them. Sokka is obsessed with food, as I've been told he's always been. Katara has taught the Avatar well, and is making sure that the group is taken care of and productive."

The old woman laughed, saying, "Sounds like those two have hardly changed, then."

Azula had nothing to say to that, but she was spared finding a diplomatic response when Pakku came over, wrapping an arm around the old woman's waist.

"Come, Kanna, and we shall let the young guest rest," the water bender said. "We need to prepare for the journey back south anyway."

Azula glanced between the two. "And when will you be departing?"

The old woman, Kanna, was the one to answer, "Not for another fortnight, but it can take some time to be prepared for a voyage of that length."

Azula nodded. "I wish you safe travels when you do leave."

~

It would seem that Arnook and her had differing opinions about what his help would look like.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you access into the Spirit Oasis at this time," Arnook said, sounding genuinely apologetic but no less firm in resolve.

Azula was momentarily stumped, because she'd been reasonably sure that he'd take her without too many questions. She frowned slightly and asked, "May I ask why not? The Avatar seemed to think it was the most important component of my stay here to be investigating the rumors surrounding the spirit world, and the only way I can access the spirit world is through the Oasis."

Arnook frowned, and turned to face the larger city, sprawled out below the balcony they were standing on. "While I do wish to assist the Avatar and you, by proxy, the attack on the Spirit Oasis wasn't long ago, and I haven't allowed anyone but myself in there since my daughter's sacrifice. You understand that the great spirit Tui and my daughter are now one and the same?"

Azula inwardly fumed, but she kept her expression understanding. "Of course, and it is absolutely of the utmost importance to keep the spirits and the princess safe." She paused, then asked, "Is there any way I can be permitted entrance if you watch over what I'm doing?"

Arnook looked pained and a touch of frustration took over his features. "I said no, Muzai. The Spirit Oasis is closed to all but me until further notice. You will simply have to complete the other tasks the Avatar gave you."

Azula felt the fury in the way her veins warmed, and she knew that is she weren't careful, blue flames would escape with her next exhale. She carefully grounded herself and breathed out, "Of course, Chief Arnook. I wouldn't want to disrespect your wishes, and I apologize for pushing."

He inclined his head. "Is there anything else I could help you with?"

Her only true purpose for being here was being trampled over, so she would have to be careful in her next requests, especially if she wanted him to be led to the intended conclusions. "Actually, are there any scrolls on the subject of the great spirits Tui and La? The Fire Nation is firm in its following of the great sun spirit Agni, so I'm largely unfamiliar with their stories. I believe it would help me understand your people to understand the spirits guiding you."

He smiled. "Now that, I can do."


	14. Chapter 14

The following weeks dragged on, her body growing accustomed to the deep cold as she continued to plot. Scrolls on history and spirits were brought to her after her conversation with Chief Arnook, and she'd been reading through them. They were . . . interesting, she supposed. While not nearly as prosperous and grand as the Fire Nation, they'd made some advancements since their founding. 

She'd mostly focussed on the scrolls discussing Tui and La, considering her true mission. She didn't know much about the spirit world, having never listened to her crack-pot uncle when he'd come back a few marbles and a son short. She could guess that there was a strong possibility of encountering the Water Tribe spirits if she entered the Spirit World from their domain. She assumed the Spirit Tui would be like Chief Arnook's daughter, kind and quiet and hopefully a major pushover. She had less to go on about La, only knowing that he'd used the Avatar to obliterate the Fire Nation navy. She supposed it was a reasonable reaction since his lover had been murdered, and it wasn't like he had access to the Avatar right now, so she wasn't overly concerned about him either.

Hopefully, she'd be fortunate and bypass those spirits altogether once she managed to enter the Spirit World. Frankly, if it took two spirits to balance out one of Agni, they didn't seem to be worth her time at all. 

It was with these considerations that she desisted from reading those scrolls and started poking her nose around even more in regard to the military and defenses of the tribe. It would make her eventual conquering of the land much easier. The less bloodshed, the less chances of rebellion and uprises, as she'd learned the hard way in Ba Sing Se.

She'd continued wandering around the tribe, greeting people as she went. It took less than two weeks before she had the patrol schedules, warrior's faces, blind spots, and security weaknesses memorized. 

She pointedly ignored the rapidly approaching solar eclipse, knowing her father had survived just fine every other time. 

Her desire to have the best possible plan to quickly capture the water tribe quickly led her back to watching Master Pakku's lessons that showed no sign of slowing down even with his impending departure. She'd learned that the group he was primarily training were benders extremely near gaining the title of Master, and half of them would be picked to follow him back to the Southern Water Tribe, along with their betrothed. 

Azula was a bit stir-crazy from not being able to bend, but her flames remained a tell-tale to her identity. While she was no less proud now than when her fire first changed colors, she wished her father hadn't seen it as a perfect sign that she was Agni's chosen, quickly spreading word that the Princess of the Fire Nation was blessed. It had been a fantastic intimidation technique and had risen the morale of their soldiers for some time, but now everyone knew what to look for to identify her. 

"Back again, I see," Pakku said between instructions when she moved to sit on the edge of the practice field, watching the water benders utilize the canals. 

"I just couldn't stay away," she said, somewhat dryly. 

She noticed several of the men giving her disgruntled looks. One in particular looked furious, and she raised a condescending eyebrow at him. If he'd been a fire bender, he'd probably be smoking. As it was, his next kata was significantly more violent than the last.

She wasn't surprised when he took advantage of their next break to swagger over to her, three other warriors following close behind. 

"Listen, girl," he said, a sneer distorting his face. "I don't care if you're an ash bender or the Avatar, you've got no right to sit around and waste everyone's time pretending to be a warrior. So why don't you scurry on back to the Healer's Hut where women belong?"

Now, Azula had seen subtle signs of sexism rampant in this savage nation, but this was the most abrupt she'd seen yet, and she noticed that many of the warrior were nodding along with the buffoon. 

Fury crackled through her veins at the audacity of this lowly peasant to think he'd actually be considered a better warrior than her, a prodigy trained from childhood, blessed by Agni. She ached to teach this foul beast a lesson he'd not soon forget, and the idea of branding him as her brother had been crossed her mind. But no, it wouldn't do to let some backwater scum have the same mark of a royal, disgraced and traitorous or not. 

She wasn't sure what alerted Pakku that something was wrong, but he came out of nowhere, easing between them, blocking their line of sight. His voice was cold when he said, "What exactly is going on here?"

Azula felt her lips curl upwards at an ally, but the peasant met her eyes and matched her smile with one far more cruel. He told his master, "The other warriors and I are feeling uncomfortable at her presence on this training grounds. Surely, she'll get hurt sooner or later by a misdirected spar."

To her disgust, Pakku seemed to actually consider the words. He turned to her, "That is a fair point. Muzai, perhaps it would be better if you found somewhere else to observe water bending. The Healing Hut would be a good option."

Azula gritted her teeth in fury, resisting the urge to breath fire into the man's face as the water tribe peasants silently smirked at each other behind Pakku's back. 

She took a deep, calming breath, forcing the wildfire of her anger to lower into embers. She would be fanning them right back up soon, but for now, she wanted to know what these idiots were forcing female benders to do.

⛈⚡

The Healing Hut was a large structure, and Azula did not struggle to find it, having already marked it out on her mental maps. She hadn't entered it before, but there was no hesitation in her movements when she did. 

It was laid out in a similar manner to the Fire Nation infirmaries with beds separated by fabric to allow the illusion of privacy. Whereas thin silks made up the Palace infirmary divides, most of these fabrics were animal pelts. There were several people being treated, mostly men with injuries, and she could faintly hear the awful noises that could only come from childbirth. Every healer in sight was a woman.

Her scowl only deepened when a girl, barely older than her, hustled over. "Hi, can I help you?"

She forced her expression to become more open. "Hello, my name is Muzai. I'm trying to learn more about the culture of the Tribe, and I was told this would be a good place to learn about the lives of female benders."

For a heartbeat, a bitter look crossed the girl's face before she smiled. "Of course, let me bring you to Yugoda, the head healer. She should be wrapping up one of her classes right now."

Yugoda was an old woman who was not done with her class, and she only sent Azula a short glance when she leaned against the doorway. An older man was sitting beside the woman, and he had a deep gash across his bicep, looking bored with the whole thing.

"As you can see, the wound isn't as clean as some since it was caused by a harpoon. That makes healing it more difficult, because the arm is going to need more assistance knitting itself back together. There is also a larger chance of infection, and scarring is almost a certainty. As with all wounds, the first step is to properly clean it."

Azula tuned the woman's talking out, instead focussing on the glowing water wrapping itself around her hand. The healer was clearly going very slowly to allow her (female) students to closely observe and ask questions. 

There weren't many things about the water tribes that she was personally interested in trading, but eventually having some water bending healers in the Caldera? That would be extremely beneficial, especially since fire benders couldn't heal. She added it to her mental list of things to do about the tribe after conquering it, right after installing a puppet government with a female minister. She was deeply lost in her plots as she watched the woman heal, so she almost missed the class drawing to a close. 

She straightened her posture when Yugoda made her way over. The old woman had a kind look in her eyes, and she said, "Muzai. I was wondering if you would make your way here eventually."

Azula carefully kept her face neutral. "I was kindly informed by the water bending warriors that all female benders practice in here. It would be a pity to neglect to learn about what half the benders are doing."

Yugoda nodded. "A wise decision. "

Azula continued, "I am having an . . . interesting time, trying to figure out the societal roles here. Tell me, what happens if a woman wants to learn combat, or a man wants to learn healing?"

A pained expression crossed the healer's face. "I'm afraid they simply won't be allowed to . . . unless they are Katara, anyway. The girl came through here and practically forced Master Pakku to instruct her. No patience for healing, that child."

Azula hummed, not so sure about that. "The lack of choice is strange," she told the healer. "In the Fire Nation, everyone is equal regardless of whether they are a man or a woman."

Yugoda's eyebrows rose and she snorted. "The lack of choice in the Fire Nation is even more disconcerting. If someone wishes to not learn at all, they may do so. But to not serve in the Fire Nation military is unheard of, from what I know."

"Serving in the military brings honor onto your family," Azula nearly snapped, before smiling innocently. "Of course, the military is under orders from the Fire Lord who is currently disrupting the peace, but it is traditionally a badge of honor."

She didn't like the intelligent gleam in the woman's eyes as she was given a thorough once over. 

"You're a fighter," Yugoda stated. 

Azula tilted her chin up. "Amongst the best."

The best, her mind corrected. 

Yudoga sniffed dismissively. "The Fire Nation doesn't have true healers, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that someone with your . . . upbringing would look down on it."

Her eyes narrowed at the slight, but it was ironic that she'd been thinking rather differently about healing moments before. "On the contrary, I think healing is extremely valuable. It doesn't change the fact that even if I were a water bender, which I am not, I would want to be a warrior, not a healer."

Yugoda studied her for a long moment, before relaxing with a huffed laugh. Azula seemed to have passed some form of test. "You remind me of Katara, all right. The Avatar seems to attract ambition, especially in women."

Slightly mollified by the healer's seemingly random acceptance, Azula asked, "So you're saying that if you had an equal option to train in combat or healing, you would have still chosen healing?"

The old woman smiled. A sad glint lingered in her eyes, but she seemed mostly peaceful. "Yes, I would. There is no shame in fighting for what you believe in, but I have no desire to cause harm to other people, especially mortal harm. Being a healer is difficult, but with every injury I heal, I feel more whole." Her eyes seemed to probe Azula's very soul. "Unlike many people, I tend to lay my head down at night without regrets. Can you say the same, Muzai of the Fire Nation?"

⛈⚡

One thing Azula knew she'd regret was letting a bunch of backwards peasants believe they were superior to her simply because of her gender. 

It was with this in mind that she found herself once again approaching the training field, the sun overhead, filling her with Agni's power. She wouldn't be able to fire bend, but she could still draw energy from the sun.

Pakku and his fifteen trainees turned to watch her slink closer, allowing herself to look every inch the predator that she was. 

"Muzai," Pakku greeted slowly. "I thought you would find yourself in the Healing Hut for at least a week."

She turned fierce golden eyes onto him. "I went yesterday. It was very . . . enlightening. But now I've decided that while I've been observing quite a lot about your culture, I've been remiss in showing mine. Allow me to resolve that by sparring with your men."

Pakku frowned deeply. "But you have said yourself you are a poor bender."

She allowed her lips to curl into one of the smirks she'd been suppressing her entire stay in this wretched land. "I won't be using my bending. Your men will need me handicapped if they want a chance of success, even with their bending."

The warriors shifted, anger swelling over their ranks, and they exchanged incredulous looks. 

She didn't know what Pakku saw in her in that moment, but it made him say, "I suppose you can try. Would you like to start from the weakest and make your way up?"

"You misunderstood," Azula said, coldly. "I will be taking them all out at once."

The training grounds were deathly silent.

Suddenly, the Water Tribe warriors started laughing, causing a minor uproar. 

Pakku wasn't laughing, and neither was Azula. 

"There are fifteen of them, all near mastery," Pakku reminded her, an urgent tone to his voice. "Surely it would be better to start with only one opponent?"

She shook her head, expression hard. "No. This is the only way they will learn the lesson I want to teach them."

Pakku seemed to sense that he couldn't stop her, so he gave a resigned nod and moved away. She noticed he stopped a passing child who promptly ran in the direction of the Healing Hut. Good. These savages were going to need a healer when she was done. 

The water benders seemed largely unconcerned by her, still chortling amongst themselves, as they waited for Pakku to call the beginning of the spar.

They wouldn't be laughing for long.

Azula had spent weeks observing their fighting styles. She knew their skills, their weaknesses, their blindspots, and what had taken them down in the past. She also knew that most of them tried to not harm each other, which would be all the better for her. Fire Bending was closer contact than Water Bending already, and since she'd be pulling from her bending training and what Ty Lee had taught her, it only pushed the odds further in her favor. 

Pakku looked pained as he said, "Start."

Azula was in motion the second the words left his mouth. The nearest warrior was standing a mere five feet away, and she easily leapt around onto his shoulders, jabbing a pressure point in his neck. She was already pressing her feet down into his shoulders, leaping onto the next warrior. She sailed through with her momentum, swinging around his shoulder, digging her nails in tight at a pressure point. Even as she landed in a crouch, he hit the ground with a loud thud, dazed and locked stiff. 

The next warrior was out of her reaching distance and was already sending a water whip at her as she rose to her feet. She knew this one had a bad tendency to keep his water a bit too high, and she used that to her advantage as she skidded under his bending, knocking his feet out from underneath him with a smooth kick. A quick chi block kept him out for the count. 

Three warriors had teamed up to create a wave of water that was fast approaching. Unfortunately for them, they were trying to avoid their classmates, making it easy for her to jump onto one warrior's head before jumping across three others, chi blocking as she went. Men fell behind her. 

Six down, nine to go. 

One man was trying to do his signature move of freezing someone's legs down, and she hadn't remained still enough for him to succeed. It did make him her priority, though, as she wasn't sure how she'd get out of that without bending. There were five benders between them.

She rushed the first, taking close advantage of their lack of experience in close combat. The man brought a ribbon of water towards her, aiming directly for her throat. She deflected his hand with her arm, following through with the movement to bring her full strength into crashing her knee against his sternum. Something cracked underneath her, but well . . .

That's what the healers were for. 

The next soldier sent a wave of ice along the ground, hoping to knock her off balance. She launched herself through the air instead, her full body weight going through one foot that collided with his knee. It gave out with a loud crack, sending him to the ground with a pained moan.

Warrior number nine was brandishing ice blades and was sending them at her with no hesitation. She dodged each with the deadly precision that had kept even a single hair from being singed in her lessons. He went down with a hard jab of chi blocking. 

The two warriors in front of her had learned from the failures of their classmates, creating a wall of water between them and her, forcing her to keep her distance. 

Another warrior had snuck behind her, grabbing her by the shoulders, clearly expecting to not even need water bending.

There was a smile on her face when she flipped over his shoulder, latching onto his arms and forcing him to follow her movement. He crashed head first onto the icy ground, likely gaining a rather painful concussion. 

There were only five left.

Two maintained the water wall in front of her, occasionally sending out a small attack that she dodged. One was edging around the wall, trying to catch her legs in ice. The other two were coming up on her flanks, clearly intending to overwhelm her.

The warrior to her right had proven multiple times that he had a difficult time processing moves he'd never seen before. He always fixed it the second time, but that wouldn't help him here.

She launched into an aggressive cartwheel, using her arms to propel herself off the ground, wrapping her legs around his neck, and completing the turn. He had no choice but to follow, or else he'd likely break his neck. He'd be down for the count even without her actively trying to kill him. 

The one who'd been on her left moved to attack, and she sprinted towards him. Rather than stay up as he'd anticipated, she dropped low to the ground, allowing her momentum to slide her behind him, immediately jumping up and pouncing onto his back. She harshly dug her boots into his ribcage, moving onto his shoulders before launching herself over the water wall the two soldiers had been pathetically hiding behind.

One of them went down when she landed squarely on his head. The other followed moments after when she leapt off his classmate's shoulders, rolling directly into his legs. She heard something in his legs crack. 

That left two opponents. One was roughly rolling his shoulders, trying to work out the pain of her digging her heels in. The other was still dedicated to freezing her legs. 

She grimaced, running towards the uninjured man, keeping her stride as random and fleeting as possible to prevent him from predicting her next footstep. In the end, it was his own tactic that beat him, as she feigned a step that he quickly froze. She used the brand new pillar to launch herself into the air, crashing hard down onto his shoulders, fingers already jabbing his chi points. He went down hard.

The last warrior standing amongst his groaning comrades snarled at her, having stopped rolling his shoulders. 

A smirk curled on her lips and she quirked an eyebrow, motioning with one hand for him to try his best. 

He sent a vicious array of water, ice, and snow at her, seeming to hardly breath between attacks.

She ducked and rolled and jumped, coming closer with each dodged attack.

The closer she got, the more desperate he became. 

She supposed she should have seen it coming with the wild, animalistic look in his eyes. As it were, he was a man being hunted by a predator far superior to him, and he panicked, suddenly wielding a wall of ice shards. Her eyes widened as she threw herself to the side, trying to dodge his extremely lethal attack.

She fell into a roll, but felt the tell-tale pricks of pain from her legs that told her she'd not escaped unscathed. 

Fury and the sun fueled her, allowing her to duck behind his back and land a solid kick directly in his kidney. He let out a grunt of pain, closer to a whimper in all truth, as he fell to his knees. She then span around in a tight circle, kicking him hard in the head. It was only her good will that made her hold her strength back enough to not break his skull open.

She rose, took a deep breath, and bowed sardonically to Master Pakku, all of his prized students in various degrees of pain behind her. 

⛈⚡

"Foolish girl," Yugoda muttered as she fussed over the princess's legs. The ice had already melted, leaving dozens of wounds to sluggishly bleed. "This is the exact opposite of what I meant when I advised you to not live a life of regrets."

Azula smirked and tilted her chin in the direction she could hear cursing men. "I have to say that I'm feeling a remarkable lack of regrets right now."

The old woman gave her a sour look, but turned her attention back to the wounds as she healed them with blue glowing water. "A part of me is surprised you're injured at all. On the bright side, you're natural energy is quite bountiful, so healing you will be no difficult feat."

Unsurprising, considering who she was.

Azula clicked her nails against the bed. "I wouldn't be if I'd been using fire bending, but I didn't want the fight to be too unfair."

Yugoda scoffed. "I'm just glad you're on the Avatar's side of this war."

Azula kept her expression from changing, instead pleasantly saying, "Yes, I am quite efficient."  
⛈⚡

Chief Arnook visited her again that night as she was gazing thoughtfully up at the moon. It would only be a matter of time before she would have to choose what the next time loop would bring, and she had several ideas, but hadn't decided which would be the best option. She supposed it would hinge on if she could enter the Spirit World this time.

This thought had seemingly summoned the Chief, as he approached and leaned again the same low wall as her, directing his own gaze to the moon.

"She's beautiful tonight," Azula noted, watching the old man from the corner of her eye.

A melancholy smile crossed his face, and he sighed. "Yes, she is." His eyes lingered on the sky, before he turned to face her. "Master Pakku told me what you did today."

Azula sensed she was on shaky ground once more. "I thought it best to remind the warriors that it will be more than just men they meet on the battlefield when fighting the Fire Nation."

"You do not have to explain yourself to me," he said, startling her. "I have often found myself wondering if my Yue ever had similar thoughts. She was so intrigued by Katara and that boy Sokka . . . but I suppose I'll never know." His gaze became intense. "One thing I do know from today is that you could have easily breached the Spirit Oasis during your time here, but you have not even made an attempt, making a point to stay away from the Oasis."

He turned his gaze back to the moon. "It is because of that show of respect that I will allow you to enter with me. Yue would want it to be so, and if there are concerning rumors surrounding the Spirit World, then there is a possibility that my daughter is in danger. It is time for you to complete one of the Avatar's tasks."

With that, he turned and started to make his way deeper into the city.

Azula hurried to follow.


	15. Chapter 15

Arnook led her quickly through the streets, his long legs leading him faster along the icy pathways than her natural stride would. This late at night, only the reflection of the moon served as lighting, and she itched to use her flame as a guiding light. Instead, she huffed a silent breath, icy fog rising as she dutifully followed the Chief deeper into the city.

Her suspicions had been correct, she noted, as he came to a halt outside of a wall, the faint bubbling of a waterfall just audible. He paused and although she could not see his face, she got the strong impression that he was bracing himself. With no warning, he reached forward to open the round door, revealing the Oasis beyond.

Azula felt her eyes widen slightly as she moved forward, eyes caught on the green plants ahead, nestled on an island just in front of the waterfall. The temperature had noticeably risen, and her eyes caught on the grass, something she hadn't seen in far too long.

Arnook watched her with sorrowful eyes. "It is indeed beautiful. After you, Muzai."

She led the way towards the arch, noticing as she did that the hair on the back of her neck was steadily rising, an odd energy reverberating through her body. She resisted the urge to shiver at the weight of the atmosphere, feet leading her towards the pool in the center as if in a trance.

Calmly swimming in circles, the perfect ying yang, were two koi fish.

As if in a trance, Azula moved forward, dropping to her knees before the pond, a hand falling into the water.

Dimly, she could hear the Chief say something, an urgent tone in his words.

She never did quite hear what he said, as both fish - white and black - paused in their tranquil swimming before darting to her hand quicker than any fish should be able to move. It was impossible to tell which fish touched her first, but suddenly all she knew was darkness. In some part of her mind, she faintly registered her body slumping to the side.

⛈⚡

Azula blinked her eyes open, finding herself standing on a floor of shadows, darkness creeping about. Bright silver light flared, and her gaze snapped to a white-haired woman standing in front of her, skin emitting the light of the moon. Her face was tranquil, eyes glinting with molten silver. The very blood in the fire princess' veins seemed pulled to the woman.

Azula was finally able to overcome the trance she'd been under since stepping foot in the Oasis. Her golden eyes narrowed, meeting knowing silver. "Who are you?"

The woman's lips quirked into a serene smile. "I am the moon and current, the light in the darkness and the bringer of stability. I once took on the name Yue, but I am better known as Tui, Great Spirit of the Moon."

Azula scoffed lightly. "Of course. Are you the spirit who's been meddling in my life?"

The words seemed to not effect the spirit, eyes as serene and never-ending as before. She had a knowing glint in her eyes as though she held the knowledge of a millennia. Azula supposed it was possible. 

Tui tilted her head, the gesture otherworldly and unsettling. "No, child of fire. You have enough spirits actively invested in your journey without me getting involved."

Azula breathed out of her nose in a gesture that should have produced blue flames. There were none, displaying irrefutable evidence that she had been pulled into the Spirit World. "Then who is involved and for what purpose? Why has Agni cast me into this time loop and how do I get out of it?"

Tui seemed irrefutably amused, thoughtful eyes distracted by something Azula couldn't see. "You presume much, Princess. Unfortunately, your time here is limited as even now spirits from across the realm are on their way in an attempt to stake a claim of their own. It is important that you hear what the ocean has to say."

"The ocean," Azula repeated dryly. 

Tui's unearthly silver eyes met her own, sending a shiver down her spine at the sheer power incased there, her blood singing as if Tui's very presence altered the tide of her own body. "I do give you this advice and a word of warning, Princess Azula. At your current rate, you will be trapped until the sun meets the sea, and Agni was never meant to touch La."

With those cryptic words, Tui melted away, taking the silvery light with her as she seemed to ascend into the sky until an eerily large full moon hovered above. 

Below Azula's feet, the shadowy ground rippled, and she found herself in the crescent between two crashing waves, each at least forty feet in height. Just as one wave began to crest, the sheer power and roar of it surging towards her as she desperately kicked her legs, fighting to remain above the waters, a shadowy figure parted the wave. A figure of water, in the vague shape of a man at least twenty feet in height, emerged from the crashing waters, stopping once his waist breached. 

Around them, the waves seemed almost rougher, though they completely disregarded the spirit that she knew must be La. 

His eyes were am infinite kaleidoscope of colors, everything from a blue as dark as night to the bright turquoise she associated with the waters around the islands. 

If Tui made her very blood pull at her insides, then La made her breath short, his sheer presence suffocating her as she fought to remain afloat, salt water threatening to drown her as waves battered her around.

La's emotionless eyes remained locked on her as she swam for her life. In between one blink and the next, she found herself suddenly buoyant, requiring no swimming at all to remain floating waist deep in the water. The waves moved around her, still towering and insurmountable in size, but no longer battering her. 

If Tui's voice has been ethereal, then La's was the rumble of a hurricane, the sheer destructive force of a tsunami. "Azula of the Sundered Skies, Princess of the Fire Nation, you are deviant on your path and causing great unbalance in the world of the mortals."

His very words threatened to drown her for all that he'd stopped the raging seas from harming her. Her hair plastered to her skin, and she took gulping breaths, struggling to maintain anything resembling a royal facade. 

"I'm doing my best to complete Agni's quest," she snarled, hands clawing beneath the water.

La was unmoved, expressionless eyes boring into her. There was a long moment of heavy silence as he seemed to gaze even into the farthest reaches of her mind and soul. Around them, the waves grew higher and sea monsters clashed in the distance. 

His watery features contorted in disgust, the first true emotion he'd shown. Between one blink and the next, he was emotionlessly calm and the waves completely dissipated until only the faintest rocking was detectable around her.

La was already descending as his voice threatened to suffocate her, even in the calm waters. "Know this, impudent child of fire: if you do not learn your lessons, no time loop will save you or even the world as you know it. This journey is yours alone, but I can offer one piece of advice. Pay attention to my boon and your path shall become clear."

The Great Spirit descended below the waters, and Azula was finally able to breath. She frantically looked around for land, squinting at the strange blue movement in the distance from all sides. She took in a sharp breath when she recognized the movement for what it was: hundreds if not thousands of spirits rapidly approaching from all directions. She could just make out jeering over the gently lap of the waves around her.

She twisted around in frantic circles, looking for an escape or at least a weapon.

Something cold and slimy grabbed her by the ankle, yanking her into the watery depths of the ocean. She silently struggled with all her strength in an attempt to preserve air, clawing and pushing at the thing grabbing her, but it was futile, and only panicked bubbles remained when the first spirits arrived.

⛈⚡

Azula awoke soaking wet and shaking on the floor of the Spirit Oasis with Chief Arnook and Healer Yugoda each gripping a shoulder. Their snapped questions fell on deaf ears as the princess kept her blank eyes on the tranquil swimming of the koi fish in the center of the pond.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she rose sharply to her feet, golden eyes furious, before stalking out of the Oasis.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: implied rape

It was later that night when Chief Arnook found her. She was leaning against one of the icy guard towers, high on the wall defending the city, suspicious eyes intermittently glancing between the moon and the ocean.

He didn't make any noise other than the slight crunch of snow under his boots as he settled beside her, head tilting towards the moon. With moonlight glinting off his typical Water Tribe eyes, Tui's silver danced with blue. She couldn't be sure how long they stood there in silence, him the tragic father, and her the foreign princess never farther from home than now, gazing at the ocean, clothes shaded in blue and white, her golden eyes the only true evidence that she didn't belong. 

Icy breath swirled from the Chief's mouth as he sighed. His voice was rough and low as he said, "I won't ask what you saw in there or even if you found the answers the Avatar was seeking, but tell me this." His eyes shot over to hers, a desperate glint in them. "Did you see my Yue?"

Her mouth tasted of ash, and the part of her that was still just a teenage girl wondered if her own father had ever asked someone something similar, as if their very world would be ruined if the answer wasn't what they wanted to hear. She turned her eyes back to the moon, pushing aside the sentiment. Her father was the Fire Lord, and Fire Lord's didn't show weakness to anyone, for anyone. 

Her voice was softer than she intended when she replied, "Yes." 

The Chief took a deep, grounding breath, and she pretended she didn't see the shudder that went through him as his gaze followed her own to the moon. 

⛈⚡

The next day, her life in the Northern Water Tribe was back to normal - or as normal as it could be. Since she'd so readily decimated the Water Bending students, most of the masters and students had taken to offering her challenges. A majority clearly just wanted the glory of defeating her (as if), but she noticed several contemplative looks when they thought she wasn't watching. 

She didn't mind their challenges. They wouldn't remember anything they learned from her, and they were absolute knowledge mines for her. Within weeks, she recognized nearly every water bending move before the first step of the kata was done, and one of the peasants found some amusement in teaching her how to use a boomerang. If nothing else, she now had a better idea of where one would strike which would be all the better for dodging in the future. 

Some of the females of the tribe had quietly approached her one day, asking about defensive training. Her eyebrows had risen as the warrior she'd been speaking to actually kept his mouth shut even as he was clearly warring with himself.

She turned a predatory smile on the women. "Of course I'll teach you how to defend yourselves."

The next day, what had to be nearly a hundred women of all ages showed up for her impromptu lesson. 

When pressed, Chief Arnook merely turned away, stating, "Perhaps my daughter would still be here if she'd had some training." 

⛈⚡

A girl not much older than Azula was chatting her ear off about the colorful lights in the sky during the Long Night, trying to convince her to return one winter if she wasn't still there by the time the lights started up again. The girl, Balea, swore up and down that they were ancestors from the Spirit World dancing for their descendants. 

"I'll consider it," Azula said dryly, correcting the girl's posture. It was remarkably easy to default back to a commander's role, but she took care to not get too carried away. The inescapable snow and blue fabrics helped keep her focussed at least. 

Balea swiped at her throat, and Azula easily leaned back, pushing her hand in the direction it had already been moving, swiping her foot out from under her when she teetered, overextended. 

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice called. Azula turned to see Pakku making his way towards her, a sour expression on his face almost covering the contemplative gleam in his eyes. "What prompted you to single handedly attempt to change our culture in my absence?" 

Azula narrowed her eyes. "What prompted you to turn back for the Northern Water Tribe when you should be arriving at the South Pole any day now?"

He merely hummed. "Other plans took precedent."

Her eyes glinted. The Day of the Black Sun was less than two weeks away. How . . . auspicious. 

⛈⚡

She supposed she really shouldn't have been surprised when Pakku knocked on her door that evening. 

"What do you want?" Azula drawled, leaning against the doorway. 

He glanced over her and huffed to himself. "Put on a thicker coat and come with me."

She narrowed her eyes, not liking the clear order, but curiosity won out. She snagged a set of furs and followed the infuriating old man. She almost turned right back around and went back to her quarters when his quick strides led them to a pai sho board, overlooking much of the city.

"Do you play?" he asked. 

She looked at him coldly. "You brought me here to play a game?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Worried I'll defeat you, Muzai?"

"That's the last of my worries. No one's beaten me at pai sho since less than a week after my uncle taught me," she said haughtily. 

Pakku's lips quirked in a condescending smile, and he gestured at the board. "The guest has the first move."

She looked at the man for a long moment before her competitive streak won out, and she sat at the table, immediately moving her first piece.

Pakku seemed almost disappointed as he looked at her tile. He quickly added his own. 

Not long into the game, Azula noticed the water bender was quite literally creating a pretty design with the tiles. While he was far from winning, he had more harmonies formed than she was entirely comfortable with. She was nothing if not a strategist, though, and it was easy enough to see how to win. All she had to do was mostly follow the picture he was creating. 

Some time later, a crooked flower was formed with their tiles. Azula placed one last tile down, leaned back, and declared, "I win."

Pakku was entirely too thoughtful as he regarded her. "So it seems you have. Tell me, Muzai, have you ever heard of the Order of the White Lotus?"

She tilted her head. "I can't say that I have."

A mysterious smile fell on his lips. "We have much to discuss."

⛈⚡

The audacity. The sheer betrayal knowing that there was a super-secret group spread throughout all the nations, sworn to help the Avatar "keep the peace" or whatever other garbage they used to cover the truth of their actions. They were rebelling against a greater world, a higher order in which they would all be prosperous under the Fire Lord's rule. Eventually, under her rule. 

Azula fumed in her quarters, stalking back in forth in furious strides, surprised the ice under her boots wasn't melting. 

Oh, she'd played nice and told Pakku all about how honored she was and how she couldn't wait to help. It was sensible that one of her first questions was how she became initiated and how many members, exactly, were there anyway?

Stupid old men, and stupid rebel groups, and stupid ceremonial rules. 

Apparently, the next step of the initiation couldn't occur until the Grand Lotus was there. And apparently the Grand Lotus had to reveal himself to her, rather than the other way around. And the cherry on the traitorous cake: only the Grand Lotus knew the true scale of the organization, and apparently he fiercely guarded the information, meaning it would be near impossible to learn it herself.

From what little she'd been able to deduce from the twinkle in Pakku's eye, the Order of the White Lotus had members in very high positions across the entire world. How was she going to have a successful reign if she was constantly wondering if any of them belonged to a rebel group that made pretty flower designs to communicate?!

Azula snarled, almost wishing some tragedy would befall her so that she could raze Ba Sing Se to the ground again. Nothing was quite so cathartic as the reinforcement that she was capable of single-handedly bringing down the most well-defended city (outside of the Caldera) in the world. 

⛈⚡

At this point, her inevitable death weeks later - coincidentally seconds after a Water Tribe ship docked on Fire Nation shore - wasn't even noteworthy. The only thing she noted at all was that even though the water benders swore up and down that it looked like a bad storm at sea was going to cause rough waves, the entire trip was smooth sailing, the ocean peacefully licking against the wooden boats.

⛈⚡

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air. She promptly released the air in what should have been enough frustrated flames to singe the walls, ceiling, and floor. 

There wasn't even a tickle of flames. 

Her eyes widened and she shot to her feet, startling a Dai Li member walking through. She moved her hands through a simple kata, pushing her hands away. There wasn't even a spark of flame from her fingertips. 

The next hour was spent doing a series of increasingly more desperate katas with no results as Mai and Ty Lee attempted to talk to her. She pushed them away, nearly ripping her hair out in her panic and spiral into a complete psychotic episode. 

Her flames felt alive under her skin like always, but no matter what she did she couldn't fire bend. 

Her eyes snapped up, nearly glowing in her fury. Only one being had been around her with the power to do this, and he had already claimed to have given her a "boon" that she'd seen no signs of.

La.

⛈⚡

It wasn't a difficult decision to flee towards the Fire Nation, hoping that she would be able to reach her inner flame. She already knew the route over land to remain safe, and it was simple enough to once again pay that stupid family's way. She glared into the calm ocean for the majority of the journey, and if any of the sailors heard her raging in the night as she leaned over the railing, cursing the ocean spirit, they left her be. 

⛈⚡

The sailors scratched their heads, and the captain said, "This is odd. I know I set the right course, and I've been checking the compass by day and the stars by night. I don't know how we've gotten so far off track."

Azula took a deep, calming breath, knowing that if she'd had her bending, she'd be smoking. This must also be from the meddling of that thrice damned spirit and his boon. This was by far the worst "boon" she'd even been given. From what she could tell, the were on one of the middle Islands of the Fire Nation, weeks away from the capital. She now knew she wouldn't be able to trust the ocean, which meant she had no idea how she would island hop to the main island the Caldera was located on.

Unless something had changed since she'd left the Fire Nation, all of the war balloons were near the Caldera, awaiting the Day of Black Sun and Sozin's Comet. 

While everyone else seemed content to let the captain take them back around the islands to the capital, Azula knew better than to try to reason with La. If he wanted her on this stupid island, then she wasn't going to get anywhere else by sea. 

She angrily stalked off the boat once it had been temporarily docked, marching into the fishing town. It wasn't nearly as small as she'd thought at first glance, spanning some distance. Fire Nation soldiers patrolled the street in high enough number that they must have recently fended off a pirate attack or something similar. Many of the residents seemed subdued as they moved through the streets, vendors surprisingly quiet as they sold their goods. 

Azula narrowed her eyes as she moved through the town. She'd brought plenty of money with her, so she moved to a fruit vendor, deciding that if nothing else she could eat something that wasn't boiled blubber or sea prunes. The woman at the stall kept her eyes down, not quite making eye contact as she accepted Azula's money.

The princess was suspicious. "Why are you avoiding eye contact?"

Startled golden eyes met hers before flicking back down. That answered that, at least. Why was one of her own citizens acting so afraid of her, especially when there was nothing signaling her royal status on her? The citizens of the Caldera loved the royal family, and there was no reason for anything but good stories to have spread. She was wearing basic Fire Nation clothes that any moderately well off peasant could have afforded.

The woman swallowed nervously. "I meant no disrespect."

Azula frowned. "Where is the nearest inn?"

If the woman was surprised by the seemingly random change in subject, she didn't mention it, quickly and quietly giving her instructions for a place a few blocks down. It was an easy enough walk, but the people continued to act strange. 

She was mere steps from the inn when a young boy, surely no older than five, ran from an alley and tugged on her tunic. "Miss, miss, this way!"

Intrigued, Azula followed the child into the alleyway to where a harried looking woman was wrestling with a babbling toddler and a girl who was nine or ten at most. The girl stiffened when she noticed her brother pulling on Azula's sleeve, and she hurriedly got her mother's attention. 

The woman looked up. "Yoree," she hissed, looking panicked. "What are you doing?"

The boy, Yoree, pouted, not releasing his grip on Azula. "She was gonna go into the bad place, mama, I had to stop her."

Azula straightened up, latching onto the words. "The bad place?"

The woman looked conflicted, but the toddler in her arms seemed to answer for her when it burst into noisy tears. She looked exhausted, and finally said, "Come with me, and I'll try to explain."

Azula followed the family easily, knowing she could easily defeat any soldier, fire bending or not. Through the whispers of the children, she learned the girl's name was Aniza and the toddler was named Chai. 

"I'm Onola," the wary woman's voice said as she pushed open a somewhat weathered door on a house that must have once been nice. "Please, come in and I'll get you a cup of tea."

Azula tried to be patient as she sat and waited, watching as Yoree kept close to his mother, and Aniza took Chai from their mother, clutching the infant defensively. 

"I didn't catch your name," Onola said, sitting a cup of steaming tea in front of her. 

She tilted her head in consideration as she took a sip of the tea, nails lightly clicking the cup. "I am Azula."

There was a moment of dead silence before Yoree said, "Like the princess!"

Azula's lips quirked. "Yes, like the princess."

Onola gave her a long glance before she shook her head, pouring herself a cup of tea. "Your parents were very brave to name you after one of the royal family. I've heard they don't take kindly to their names being used by the common folk."

"Quite," Azula replied, deciding to ignore that the woman had missed the more obvious answer to why she was named that. She leaned forward, ignoring her tea for the moment. "What is going on in this town?"

Onola looked troubled, and Aniza abruptly left the room with Chai. Yoree frowned, edging closer to his mother. The woman smiled, a feeble at best movement of her lips. "I wouldn't worry, dear. You're not planning on sticking around long, are you?"

Azula hummed, taking a sip of her tea. "I'm awaiting my cousin to join me, so I'm not sure how long I'll have to wait here for him. Why?"

Onola looked pained. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"I was going to stay in an inn like the one your son dragged me from."

There was a long silence, and then Onola smiled, the expression not reaching her eyes. "How about I draw up a cot for you, and you can stay with us until your cousin gets here?"

Azula's voice was cold when she asked, "Is it not safe here?"

A swallow. "You're perfectly safe with my family, Azula. It just . . . well, we live in a dangerous world, especially for young women."

A chill crept up her spine, and she casually noted, "I haven't met your husband yet. When will he get home from work?"

A pained expression overtook the woman's face, concealed a moment too late. She quickly rose, wiping her hands on her pants. "Why don't I get that cot out of storage for you?"

The princess frowned deeply as Onola practically fled, little Yoree following a hair breadth behind.

⛈⚡

The next day, Azula arose with the sun. Since none of the family members had shown signs of being benders, she was surprised to see that Onola was already awake when she went to the kitchen. The woman paused in her actions, halfway through the stitches of a surprisingly good quality dress. The quality didn't match with the seeming wealth of the family, not to mention that it looked like something that was bought, not created for oneself. 

"Are you a seamstress?" Azula inquired, not truly caring about the answer. 

"Yes," the woman answered, seeming much calmer today. "It's the easiest profession with so many children around that I don't want to leave unattended."

Azula picked her next words carefully, knowing that she'd never heard anyone else come inside the night before. "I apologize if my words yesterday offended you. It's just that I grew up with my father a strong influence in my life, and I was surprised that one wasn't home."

Onola looked sad, but she answered, "You did not offend, Azula. It is just that it wasn't even a year ago when . . ." The woman took a deep breath. "Anyway, he is in a happier place now, I'm sure."

"I'm sorry for your loss," the scripted words fell from her tongue, as insincere as any other time she'd said similar nonsense. 

"Nothing to be sorry for," the woman said, wiping her hands off. "Let's see about getting you some breakfast before all the kids wake up."

"Oh, no need. I'm going to go explore town and return later tonight if I am still welcome," Azula told her, calculating eyes reading the mother like a book as she tensed. 

Onola sighed. "I know I can't stop you, so I won't try. Please be careful, and please come back before it gets dark outside."

"Of course," said Azula, planning on no such thing.

⛈⚡

The town was much the same through the day as it had been before, as if the very air was oppressive. The soldiers in town didn't seem affected, but then again, their training wouldn't allow them to show it if they felt something was off. 

It was after the sun started to set that things starting coming into focus for her.

What were clearly bars started getting rowdier, especially as off-duty Fire Nation soldiers started piling into the establishments. Drunken jeering echoed across the streets, and the citizens of the town seemed to collectively disappear as everyone went home for the night, bodies tense until they were safely behind the doors of their homes. 

Meanwhile, Azula lingered, trying to discover what exactly had the citizens so spooked. Sure, it was irresponsible for so many soldier to overindulge, especially if there was something attacking the villagers, but she'd seen no sign of any beast or rebel group coming to terrorize the city. 

It wasn't long before the true evil revealed itself.

A group of ten hulking soldiers, all smelling overwhelmingly of alcohol, poured out of a building and caught sight of her. They were stumbling in their inebriation, but it was clear that they were now heading towards her, jeering all the while.

She narrowed her eyes, not stopping them from approaching, knowing she'd have to have a long discussion with whoever was their commander. This was unbecoming behavior of Fire Nation soldiers. 

"Come to have a good time, lil lady?" one man sneered at her. 

She made a disgusted face. "I'd sooner consort with a turtleduck."

The men blinked, drunken minds taking a moment for the meaning to come to them. As one, they bristled in anger.

Another man took a step closer, snarling, "And who're you? The Fire Lord?"

The other men sniggered, alcohol clearly making the joke hysterical.

"No," Azula said coldly. "I'm his daughter."

There was a moment of dead silence before deafening laughter came from the group of men, clearly thinking that was the most hilarious thing they'd ever heard. 

Behind her a door opened, and someone snatched her by the elbow, pulling her inside a house. A man quickly closed and locked the door, clearly hoping the soldiers were too drunk to notice. He whirled on her. "Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what they'd do to you, given the chance?!" He took a deep breath, pinching his nose. "Listen, kid, where are your parents?"

She bristled slightly at being called a child, especially since she had the situation completely under control. Even ten fully trained and sober soldiers would have been no match for her. "I've been staying with a woman named Onola."

The man paled. He whispered, "How could you bait them like that, knowing what they did to her little girl and what happened to her husband because of it?"

Azula stiffened, a sickly feeling in her stomach. "What happened exactly?"

The man shot his face up to look at her. "What do you think happened?! They did whatever they wanted with no fear of consequences, and when Chang-Li went to try to get justice, their commander had him executed for attempt to disturb the peace!"

A denial started to bubble in her throat, but then a heavy banging started on the door. A slurred voice yelled, "We know you got'er in there! Give 'er up, or else we'll kill ever'one inside."

The man met Azula's eyes, panic clear in his gaze. 

She scowled at him. "Let me take care of it."

She shook his grasp off, opened the window that was six feet to the right of the door, and slipped out, making a racket as she went. 

She met the gaze of the ten soldiers. Her soldiers who had likely done unspeakable things to who knew how many residents of this town. She might not care overly for the lives of her people, but they were hers, given to her by her blood right. Hers and her father's alone to use. No one else had the right without explicit orders that she knew they hadn't received. 

"Catch me if you can," she said drolly, before zipping through the night. She stayed just slow enough for the drunken idiots to keep up, leading them to the outskirts of the town. 

Two miles into the forest, she had nearly thirty soldiers on her tail.

By three miles, Azula was seething as she marched, a trail of bodies abandoned behind her, trees scorched, but never from blue fire. If this many soldiers needed to be ordered executed for abuse of power, she'd have a lot of work to do. The last thing she needed was idiots like them instigating a rebellion or offering any viable reasons to refuse the rule of the Fire Nation. If the work her father had done was unravelled by power-hungry peasants in uniform, then there was truly something wrong with the balance. 

Azula wasn't sure how far she walked before she started getting tired, and she caught a glimpse of the moon above her, probably only a week from being full. 

A twig cracked, and Azula whirled, ready to fight, but paused when a small old woman emerged from the shadows. A kind smile was on her face, her arms peacefully in her sleeves.

"I'm sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama."

A/N: I got super inspired by where the next few arcs need to be, so I haven't even proof read this chapter, so it may be subject to some severe editing in the next week. Quick note: the idea of Agni being the sun god is a fairly popular fanon, likely originating from the Agni Kai, since Agni is a word connoting a fire god in Hinduism (according to google). Next chapter will explore Hama and delve farther into why Azula is unable to fire bend.


	17. Chapter 17

Azula stared at the old woman suspiciously. "What are you doing in the forest in the middle of the night?"

Hama blinked, looking confused by the question. "Harvesting herbs for tea, of course!" She pulled out a brown bag and held it up as evidence.

Dear Agni, Azula thought. Not another crazy old person obsessed with tea. 

Wait - 

"Right," she drawled. "Tell me: do you favor the White Lotus Gambit?" 

"No," Hama said, now looking concerned. "Are you feeling quite alright? You know, you really shouldn't be out in the woods by yourself at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come with me?"

Azula calculated what the best move would be. She now knew she had some serious inquiries to make about the soldiers on the colonies before the Earth and Water Kingdoms managed to turn their own people against them. Considering the direction the woman had come from, Hama's Inn seemed to be in a different town. It would be enlightening if nothing else to see if the soldiers there had similar discipline issues. 

"I suppose I may as well," Azula said with a shrug. 

Hama seemed pleased, a small smile creeping onto her lips. "Right this way."

They walked in silence for some time, both of their footsteps completely silent even on the twig littered ground. Azula found herself watching the old woman out of the corner of her eye. Something was. . . . off. 

"I'm afraid I never caught your name," Hama said, sending her a contemplative glance.

"Hm," Azula said, then followed a hunch. "I'm afraid I'm on a confidential mission from the Fire Lord so I can't reveal that information."

The stride of the old woman's steps faltered before returning to normal so smoothly that Azula wouldn't have noticed it had she not been looking for a reaction. Hama glanced at her, meeting her eyes. Her expression was curiously difficult to interpret, then a wide grin pulled at her wrinkled face. "Aha, a secret mission from the Fire Lord. Truly, it is lucky I found you tonight."

"How so?" Azula asked, posture carefully loose. She couldn't be sure, but her instincts told her something was coming. Something that could pose actual danger to her, especially without the presence of her bending. 

There was a pause, and Azula noticed that the woman's fingernails were sharp like claws as she flexed her fingers. She darkly said, "On the night of the full moon, people who walk into these woods never seem to walk back out." Abruptly, the tension in the air disappeared, and Hama perked up, glancing towards the sky. "Good for you that I found you two nights before the full moon!"

"I was born lucky," Azula mused, also glancing at the moon. She wondered if Tui were up there, watching her even now.

"Yes, so it would seem," Hama muttered.

Azula's golden eyes narrowed. "What was that?"

Hama blinked innocently. "Oh, nothing, child. I'm afraid the fear of the full moon has rubbed off on us all." They emerged from the forest before an inn, a typical island city sprawled behind it. "But you'll be safe here, dear. Come on in, and let's get you a room for the night. And don't worry about paying. You're welcome to stay for as long as you like."

⛈⚡

Azula slept poorly throughout the night, feeling as if something were watching her. The whole town reeked of spirit influence. What else would make people disappear during the full moon of all things? She wondered if it was one of the spirits meddling in her life. She'd have to get to the bottom of it to find out.

⛈⚡

Early the next morning, Azula accepted Hama's offer to eat breakfast with her. She sipped the tea the woman gave her, and ate her rice leisurely. She narrowed her eyes at Hama. "I notice that I seem to be the only one staying here."

Hama looked regretful. "Unfortunately, we haven't been getting many visitors thanks to the full moon. It's been terrible for business."

"And yet, you let me stay here for free."

"Why, you're only a child, and children should not have to pay." 

"Well," Azula said, finishing her breakfast. "Far be it from me to turn down the generosity of a Fire Nation citizen. I'm afraid I won't be back until late because I'd like to explore the town."

"Have fun, dear, and do be careful. The moon isn't the only dangerous thing here."

Well, that wasn't ominous at all, Azula thought.

First order of business: figure out what was going on in this town. Then she was going to figure out what Hama was hiding.

⛈⚡

The town was subdued, similar and yet completely different from the last one. Whereas citizens in the last place had edged away from the soldiers, here they edged closer as if hoping they would be enough to stop something from snatching them off the streets. 

"So," Azula said at a stall, examining a shirt made of horribly scratchy material. Truly, she didn't understand how peasants survived such horrible quality. She looked up at the woman running the market stall as she spoke, "I'm new to town, and I've heard some awful rumors about the full moon."

The woman abruptly looked haunted and shivered, even though the blazing sun made the air nearly shimmer with heat. She gulped. "You picked an awful time to visit. Maybe you should leave and come back in a week or two."

"And miss all the fun?" Azula asked breezily. "No, I think I'll stay. Has anyone survived whatever it is making people go missing?"

The woman frowned, clearly disapproving. "Only one."

Azula raised an eyebrow, surprised that there was such a convenient lead. "Really now?"

"Don't go getting too excited. He's crazy as a bat-goose. Seems to think that whatever it is can only be stopped by boarding up your house. Claims it controls your body and that it's impossible to resist its powers."

"You don't believe him," Azula noted.

She scowled. "He was exaggerating everything from board-game wins to how much goods cost in a neighboring town before his full moon experience, so why would I?"

Azula's eyes lingered on the goosebumps raised on the woman's crossed arms. The sun continued to blare down. 

⛈⚡

The citizens of the town were mostly useless, acting scared of their own shadows. Still, it would be a good idea to know what was terrorizing her people. It would be another puzzle piece to proving that Agni wanted her to rule and that the world would be better off under the rule of the royal family. 

It didn't take her long to decide that the most efficient way of discovering what was going on was to simply wait until the full moon and go meet the spirit for herself. After all, the spirit would likely want to talk to her. They seemed to do nothing but harass her these days. It would likely find her even if she didn't seek it out.

Sure that the full moon fiasco would make sense soon enough, Azula turned her attention to Hama on the day of the full moon. The old woman was clearly hiding something, and Azula was quite good at obtaining information from people. 

Hama was either still asleep or out in the town early that morning. Azula took the time to thoroughly explore the inn to see if she could find anything else suspicious. Most of the rooms she checked were completely empty save for a bed and small nightstand. She peered into the nightstands as she went, unsurprised that there was nothing interesting inside. She also peers into cupboards lining the hallways. Most have spare sheets for the bed or towels for the shower. 

One cupboard, weirdly enough, was full of human sized wooden puppets. 

Old people, Azula thought in fascinated disgust before shutting the door.

She didn't find anything interesting at all until she made her way to the kitchen later in the day. She rifled through the pantries. Low and behold, partially hidden behind jars of uncooked rice and contained of fire flakes, dehydrated sea prunes innocently sat. If Azula hadn't lived in the Northern Water Tribe during her last life, she doubted she would have even realized what she was looking at. She plucked one up, sniffing it before curling her nose in distaste. People from the Water Tribes really did like the most horrible foods.

"Hungry?" Hama questioned from directly behind her. 

Azula refused to stiffen, even though she hadn't heard the old woman approach. She was really was unnervingly quiet. 

Golden eyes innocent, she turned around with the dehydrated sea prune still in her hand, now raised up. "A bit. I was trying to figure out what this is. I've never seen anything like it before."

Hama looked at the sea prune for a moment, an impossible to read look flickering through her eyes too fast to get a proper read on. She smiled, wrinkled skin tightening. "That, dear, is a delicacy from the Water Tribes."

Azula blinked slowly. "In the Fire Nation?"

The old woman looked around as if for eavesdroppers. "Let me let you in on a secret. Not everyone who lives in the Fire Nation is from the Fire Nation."

Azula's eyebrows rose, just slightly. That was . . . significantly easier than she'd thought it would be. "And you're not concerned to tell that to me, knowing I'm on a mission by the Fire Lord himself?"

A cold smile crept across Hama's face. "No."

Azula narrowed her eyes.

Hama's smile grew more deranged. Her shadowed eyes glanced out the window where the full moon was just dipping over the horizon. 

"I'm afraid that you'll never be able to tell him anyway."

⛈⚡

Azula's muscles were in agony as they were forced through the forest, contorting oddly in time with the grotesque clawing motions Hama's hands made. It was unnatural looking and nothing like the smoother motions of normal water bending. Her head span like her the witch was doing something to her brain on top of her muscles and limbs. 

"What is this?" Azula demanded, voice an octave higher than normal. She cleared her throat, voice a normal pitch as she demanded, "Release me at once, savage witch, and your death will be less painful."

Hama cackled, a terrible noise that made Azula's hair stand on end. "I am turning the very blood in your veins against you. There will be no defeating me, no matter how important you think you are."

Desperation clawed at Azula's throat, unfamiliar and choking. Her legs continued to force her forwards, the rest of her body stiff no matter how much she tried to make her body listen to her. Her entire body was in agony, like the veins were being rubbed raw from the inside out. She wondered if this was what being burned inside out felt like.

"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into," Azula spat, fury at war with bone crushing terror like she'd never felt before. The one and only consolation was that Ba Sing Se should be on the other side of it all.

"Enlighten me," the Blood Bender said, words curling cruelly. 

She tilted her chin up, the only part of her body that she had any control over. Oh, how she wished her bending worked. The second she figured out how to get around La's "boon," she was tracking down her crackpot uncle and convincing him to teach her how to breath fire. "I am Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, Agni's chosen, and I will not be treated like a puppet to your mad schemes. Release me at once, and I will consider giving you a royal pardon."

Hama paused, and Azula's veins constricted. Her vision blacked over in agony before the witch loosened her hold. Azula still had no control over her body. One clawed hand moved, tensing her body, and the royal was lifted off the ground, floating completely at the mercy of the psychotic water bender. 

A grotesque smile was on Hama's face, an inhuman expression that was only enhanced by the blood lust in her hooded eyes. "A member of the royal family, all at my mercy. Oh, I have heard stories about you, Princess Azula."

Azula snarled. "I said to release me!"

Hama cackled and continued forward, ignoring Azula's futile struggling. 

It wasn't long before she was led into a cave. She heard the sounds of quickening breaths and chains rattling in panic as they approached. 

Azula's body was forced to move into the darkness, until her arms were jerked up, wrists shackled. Only once she was securely chained did Hama make a move towards a lantern. There was the scrape of flint against steel before a flicker of flame illuminated part of the cave. The Blood Bender moved to start lighting the torches on the wall, revealing more and more terrified Fire Nation citizens shrinking from the old woman as far as they could in their chains as she passed.

Azula's wrists were trapped in the last set available set. 

A metallic rattling came from the direction of the man closest to her as his terrified tremors rattled his chains. His amber eyes met her own before flickering nervously away to follow Hama's movements. Several of the prisoners were filthy enough that she wouldn't be surprised if they'd been there for three months at least. That also suggested that Hama had been feeding them to keep them alive.

Azula's eyes narrowed. What did the witch want with them?

Her eyes darted around, looking for a weapon. How she missed her fire bending. It wouldn't been so easy to kick a swathe of blue flame at Hama, setting the witch alight. From there, she would have time to figure out the most effective way of getting out of the chains.

Azula was nothing if not a strategist, and adaptability was paramount to survivability, so she had a plan concocted in a reasonably short amount of time.

As she'd expected, Hama sat down the lantern once the torches were lit and made her way back to Azula. She stood just slightly too far away as she smirked at the princess.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, knowing you savage tribes people, but still . . . the cowardice you show, not allowing people the chance to fight back, is almost impressive."

The people around her edged away as much as they could, the clinking metal bringing attention to their terror. 

Hama scowled. "Not as cowardly as your people, destroying whole villages and nearly wiping out water benders all together from the South Pole."

Azula's eyes lit with furious glee. "Aw, is that what this is?" she mocked. "Itsy bitsy water bender so mad at the true order of the world that she has to take it out on everyone around her?" She scoffed. "You're pathetic."

Hama surged forward, fury darkening her features. "No. What's pathetic is the leech that is your nation, Princess. Destroying nations and people. You took everything from me. It's time you feel the pain that I've felt!"

Azula looked up at her shackled hands, idly observing her own sharp fingernails as if bored, ignoring how still the other prisoners had gotten at the spat title. She yawned. "I've heard more impressive threats from turtle ducks. Maybe once I get out of here, I'll take a fleet down to the South Pole and wipe out the rest of the tribe since clearly the Southern Raiders weren't . . . persuasive enough."

Bingo. 

Hama surged forward, practically deranged, apparently decided to use brunt force to attack since the fire princess seemed defenseless. 

Azula's hands clamped down on the chains, using her core strength to swing her legs up, wrapping them tight around the witch's throat. Hama's eyes bugged, her hands coming up to claw at her thighs. Now, if she could just figure out how to move her legs just right . . . how much force did it take to snap a neck anyway?

Hama's hands releasing her legs was the only forewarning she got before her body was locked back up, the Blood Bender's fingers held unnaturally again. 

Her wrinkled face was curled in a disgusted glower. "You underestimate what you're up against. Allow me to fix that."

Her clawed fingers rose sharply, and every prisoner in the room stiffened up as she took complete control of over a dozen bodies at once. Unfortunately enough, the witch's hands didn't even tremble with strain, as if she were used to controlling more at once. 

"Six seems a good number for now. What do you think, Princess?"

Azula warily eyed the insane glint in the woman's eyes. "Six what?"

An evil look festered over Hama's face like a disease. 

In possibly the most horrific move Azula had ever seen, one of Hama's hands jutted out and six people's bodies popped like balloons, shriveling up to dust and bone as blood rained through the room. Other prisoners screamed, the haunting sound echoing.

Azula jerked against her chains, eyes and mouth snapping closed even as blood spattered onto her. She wasn't proud to admit it, but the only thing keeping her legs from trembling was the puppet-like control Hama still had over her body. She hadn't even felt this level of fear in front of the Great Spirit Koh. 

Her skin crawled as the witch clearly watched her, and she managed to open her eyes, trying to keep blood from dripping into them. Her eyelashes were stained red. 

There wasn't a drop on Hama.

There was nothing human about the look on her face as she cooed at Azula, "I notice that you haven't been using any fire bending. Cat-lizard got your tongue?"

Azula snarled, then spat as blood crept past her lips. 

Hama seemed amused, a wicked glint in her eyes. "I've got a great idea. I'll unchain you and allow you access to your arms. I'll even give you one free shot."

How did she know her bending was gone? Azula felt feral as Hama easily undid her shackles, and she writhed as much as she could with control over only her upper body. A snarl slept from her lips, and some distant part of her was horrified at the animalistic sound of it. 

Hama laughed, the cheerful sound bouncing off the walls. It was chilling, and Azula noticed that the only thing keeping blood from oozing to the witch's shoes was her own bending forming a clean ring around her. 

Azula managed to pry a loose rock from the cave wall and she threw it directly at Hama's face with as much force as possible. 

Hama made a furious noise as she moved out of the way of the rock, and she moved her arms in a recognizable slashing motion, blood moving to form a deadly weapon. 

In an act of pure instinct, some part of Azula desperate to try anything, she moved her own arms in a water bending kata that would have theoretically given her control of the blood.

The problem was that Azula may be without her fire bending, but she was not a water bender. 

Azula could do nothing but brace herself to be sliced in half by other people's blood as she uselessly moved in a foreign kata.

Then, something strange happened. 

Her chi sang in the way it only did when she was fire bending, and following the movements of the water bending kata, blue fire blazed bright, moving freely like water. It scorched through the blood coming towards her, rapidly evaporating it.

Not having time to think through her actions, she frantically moved her arms to complete the second part of the kata. Instead of blood or some other liquid flying back with sharp precision, blue flame crackled as it moved like a viper, piercing Hama in the side. 

The scent of burning flesh filling the air, and Azula froze, staring at her hands in horrified confusion. Static electricity crackled around them, as if she had just bent lightning.

Unfortunately, the moment of shock was all Hama needed. Featured hardened and also staring at Azula's hands, both of Hama's clawed hands pulsed outwards.

Azula didn't quite feel what happened to her body, but she recognized the kata.

⛈⚡

Azula's eyes snapped open, her body jerking on the throne of Ba Sing Se, breathing in a sharp gasp of air.

While some other Azula may have been a puddle of exploded blood in a cave, this Azula was staring at her hands with wide eyes. 

She rapidly rose to her feet and focussed on a large torch, moving her arms through the smooth motions she'd seen dozens of water benders do to create a hoop of water around them. The fire flickered bright azure and sped around her, responding to her unpracticed foreign kata. She moved her arms around her head, and a stream of fire shot at the wall, scorching it. Throughout the ash, spiderwebs arched as if lightning had simultaneously struck. Static electricity filled the air.

"Um," Ty Lee said intelligently. "That did not look like a fire bending kata."

End: Static Arc  
Next up: Current 2.1


End file.
